Possible Pipe Bomb Explodes in Santa Monica, CA

[FJDave]

From here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nat...0,696222.story

1:28 p.m. EDT, April 7, 2011
SANTA MONICA (KTLA) -- Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the area surrounding a synagogue in Santa Monica after a possible pipe bomb explosion, authorities said.

It happened around 6:45 a.m., just north of the Chabad House of Santa Monica, located in the 1400 block of 17th Street, near Broadway Street.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Police evacuated a four-block area around the temple.

The FBI, an LAPD bomb squad and the Santa Monica Police Department were all at the scene.

They appeared to be focusing on the rooftop of a house adjacent to the temple.

Initial reports said the explosion was triggered by a pipe bomb, but police have not confirmed that.

Authorities are now trying to determine whether the temple may have been targeted.

Broadway Street was closed in the immediate area, and 17th Street was closed between Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway.

[FJDave]

Seems the alarm was too quickly sounded....

Home » News » Blast Near Los Angeles-area Jewish Center was Accidental
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Blast Near Los Angeles-area Jewish Center was Accidental
100 people have been evacuated from a four-block area while bomb experts investigate.


SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Santa Monica police say an explosion that sent an object hurtling onto the roof of a home near a Jewish school and prayer house was an accident — not a bomb.

Sgt. Jay Trisler says a mechanical failure caused a pressure buildup resulting in the blast at about 6:45 a.m. Thursday.

Sgt. Marty Fine says the blast shattered windows at the Chabad (shuh-BAHD') House Lubavitch of Santa Monica and launched an object onto the roof of a building next door. TV reports showed a hole in the roof with a long cylinder poking out.

No injuries are reported. Fine says about 100 people have been evacuated from a four-block area while bomb experts investigate.

[LA DEP]

And now they are saying it really WAS a pipe bomb:

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- A search is under way for a transient man who police say is responsible for an explosion outside a Santa Monica synagogue.


The blast went off Thursday outside the Chabad House Lubavitch of Santa Monica on 17th Street. Police initially pegged the incident as an industrial accident but later determined the explosion was the result of a pipe bomb.

Authorities are now combing the area for 60-year-old Ron Hirsch, described as a transient known to spend time at synagogues and Jewish community centers seeking charity.

Hirsch has been linked to homemade explosive devices in the past, officials said.

Police said he constructed the bomb by filling a pipe with some kind of explosive and setting it in concrete inside a trash can.


The 300-pound projectile went shooting into the sky, bounced off the wall of the Jewish center, tore a hole into the roof of a neighboring home and narrowly missed an 11-year-old girl inside.

Authorities did not know what the motive was for the attack.

No injuries were reported in the incident. About 100 people were evacuated from nearby homes and businesses while bomb experts investigated.

Hirsch is considered to be extremely dangerous. He is approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 207 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. He also goes by the name Israel Fisher.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call Santa Monica police at (310) 458-8427.