Courthouse Crash: A Terrorist Act?

A pickup truck late Sunday night crashed into the county courthouse and burst into flames in what a county official said was being investigated as a terrorist attack, perhaps similar to the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people in 1995.

No one was injured, but 25 people who live nearby were evacuated late Sunday. A two-block area around the courthouse was sealed off. The ground floor of the courthouse was badly damaged.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were investigating, reports CBS affiliate WLFI in Lafayette. WLFI also reports that the truck used in the attack was stolen.

"They're treating this as a terrorist attack on the courthouse," Tippecanoe County Commissioner John Knochel said today.

There was no driver at the scene and authorities went door to door Monday looking for information about how the vehicle got into the building.

Sheriff Dave Murtaugh said the truck contained 55-gallon drums of what appeared to be gasoline and another, unknown substance.

"They've seen some wires hanging down from the vehicle. They see what they think is a fuse hanging from the vehicle," Knochel said.

The fire, which was put out within an hour, caused extensive smoke and water damage to the courthouse in downtown Lafayette, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The building was expected to be closed for two days, Knochel said.