Pipe Bomb Explodes Outside San Diego Courthouse
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SAN DIEGO — A suspected pipe bomb exploded at the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego early yesterday morning, shattering a glass entryway and damaging the lobby, authorities said. No injuries were reported.
The device was placed outside the main entrance of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse about 1:40 a.m., an FBI spokesman, Darrell Foxworth, said. The explosion destroyed a glass door, blasted shrapnel into the ceiling, and punched a hole in a fifth-story window of a building across the street, he said. There was no major structural damage, he added.
“It’s too early to tell if it’s terrorism-related,” Mr. Foxworth said. “It does not appear to be right now.”
Investigators were reviewing film from security cameras and interviewing guards who had been on duty when the bomb went off, Mr. Foxworth said.
“We have a very, very strong response,” he said. He also said the bomb did not appear to be linked to any case under way at the courthouse.
Streets around the building remained closed as federal agents marked the location of shrapnel and took photos. Debris was scattered over block-long area.
The courthouse will reopen today, Mr. Foxworth said.
