| No suspects yet in case of discovered Bock bomb |
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By Dawn Slade An explosive device left behind at a gas station in Bock prompted the evacuation of residents and businesses within a three block radius Sunday, June 14. According to Mille Lacs County Sheriff Brent C. Lindgren, around 2:57 p.m., his office received a report from the TNT Gas Station that an explosive device had been found outside and dropped off at the gas station. Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the location and began an evacuation of the area until the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Disposal Unit arrived and could make the device safe. An area of approximately three city blocks was evacuated and the surrounding areas searched by ground and air for any secondary explosive devices. In addition, traffic on Highway 23 was re-routed for approximately three hours. According to the sheriff’s office, the man who apparently found the device brought it to the attention of the gas station attendant. He reported to the clerk that it was found in the alley behind the station. This same person told the clerk to call law enforcement and then left the device outside the front door of the station and reportedly left the area. Ashley Visser, the clerk who was working at the time, said the man brought the device, which was wrapped up in a sweatshirt, into the store and set it on the counter. “This is a pipe bomb,” he told her. He said he found it in the alley behind the gas station. Visser didn’t believe him at first. “It looked like a 12-year-old made it,” Visser said of the bomb. Visser, who has worked at the store for nearly two years, said the man then picked the bomb back up, showed her the device and put it in the ashtray right outside the door. He then left on his four-wheeler. The store clerk said the man, who looked to be in his 50s, had been in the store a few hours earlier with another man, who appeared to be in his 30s and bought candy. The same man was with him when he brought the bomb into the store, but waited outside on a four-wheeler. Visser said the man who brought the bomb into the store was wearing the same sweatshirt the first time he came into the store - the sweatshirt that the bomb was wrapped in the second time he entered the store. The clerk called the sheriff’s office dispatch. She told the Times that she had brought garbage out to the alley earlier and did not see the sweatshirt or the bomb. She also said she had never seen the men before. TNT, which is owned by Carl and Lisa Jedlicki, has surveillance video cameras and Visser said authorities looked at the tape which showed the man walking into the store with the bomb. “People that encounter a suspected explosive devise or an unknown devise should not pick up or move it, regardless of its size, they should simply report it to the sheriff’s office and we will coordinate the appropriate response,” Lindgren said. “Keep in mind big things can come in small packages especially when we are talking about explosives.” When asked if anyone was in immediate danger, Lindgren replied, “Certainly not knowing what it’s potentially capable of and at a gas station . . . that’s why you have to call the bomb squad.” The bomb squad for Central Minnesota is the Crow Wing County Bomb Disposal Unit. The gas pumps were shut off and the bomb was diffused roughly three hours after it was reported. Visser said she was allowed to reopen the store at about 7:30 p.m. Lindgren said it’s unclear how long the bomb had been there before the citizen found it. Lindgren also said of bombs, “We haven’t seen this in a few years. There was a pipe bomb in Princeton a few years ago we found during a search warrant.” The sheriff said they are looking at the evidence they have, including the diffused bomb, and any surrounding incidents that could be connected. Last week in Benton County, just west of Foreston, a small bomb exploded in a mailbox in the evening hours, ejecting the mailbox into a nearby farm field. No one was injured and no one has been arrested either. Benton County Sheriff Brad Bennett said there have been some mailboxes smashed or bombed in the last three weeks. No arrests have yet been made. Bennett also said he didn’t know if the mailbox incidents, which he referred to as “MacGyver” bombs, were connected to each other. No injuries have been reported in any of those incidents either. Bock Mayor Kimberly Wood said, “This is an example of how our sheriff’s office, police and firefighters do such an excellent job every day and risk their lives to keep everyone safe. They did an excellent job. “Being in law enforcement, I was impressed with the coordination of efforts between all the agencies involved.” At this time, Sheriff Lindgren is not sure which agency may assist them further, mentioning both the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assisting the sheriff’s office were the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Division, Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office Reserves Division, Milaca Police Department, Princeton Police Department, Milaca Fire Department, Princeton Fire Department, Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Kanabec County Sheriff’s Office and the North Memorial Ambulance Service. The Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with any information regarding this incident or any other explosive devices or incidents to contact the Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division at 320-983-8257. Editor’s note: Since this story was written Sheriff Lindgren said the person who brought the explosive device into the gas station was located and investigators determined he is not a suspect in the case. The person was only trying to call attention to the device, Lindgren said. Comments (3)
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written by Bob , June 21, 2009 I'm still a bit confused. So was the bomb defused? Please, help me with my wonder and confusion. How was the bomb diffused, in what solution? ...
written by Superspaceninjaman , June 19, 2009 Defuse? Otherwise, I'm confused. ...
written by Rick , June 18, 2009 This article made Fark! http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4457025 Write comment
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