You crazy Americans!
You pee in sinks, you put your hvac systems in your attic, you operate
meth labs in your pants and purses, you tear your own homes and cities
apart scavenging copper and steel, and you eat each other's faces.
And now you sell each other exploding flashlights?
You wild and crazy Americans!
=================
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...ASHLIGHT_BOMBS
Jun 9, 3:31 AM EDT
Flashlight bombs puzzle Phoenix authorities
PHOENIX (AP) -- Flick the switch on these flashlights and they don't
light up. They blow up.
Three of these bombs have exploded within the last month in the Phoenix
area, causing minor injuries to five people and raising fears of more
serious ones. Police still have no idea who is behind them and have
taken the unusual step of putting up 22 billboards across the sprawling
metro area to warn residents about discarded flashlights.
"The nature of the bombings are so random," said Tom Mangan, a special
agent at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in
Phoenix. Mangan said the agency has ruled out any connection to
terrorism because the targets have been random and there have been no
messages or demands.
The ATF said the bombs appear to have been made by the same person or
people because their design was identical.
An explosive was placed inside the flashlights with a smaller battery
and rigged so that turning it on would send an electrical current that
triggered the blast, Mangan said. He declined to identify the explosive
material.
The first bomb was spotted by a passerby on May 13 in a suburb just west
of Phoenix. It was sitting behind a palm tree in a strip mall and blew
up when it was clicked on.
The next day, about 10 miles away, a landscaper found a flashlight in an
irrigation ditch. It, too, exploded when he flicked the switch,
authorities said.
The third bomb exploded on May 24 at a Salvation Army distribution
center near downtown Phoenix and about 11 miles from the first one.
An employee detonated the device while sorting through donations,
forcing 120 people in the store to evacuate. Jon Bierd, production
manager at the facility, said the worker suffered a small abrasion to
his forehead.
The Salvation Army stopped accepting donations of flashlights. Since the
explosion, employees have not seen any flashlights matching the yellow
one seen on the billboards.
"If we have a flashlight that's heavy or is not empty, then I'd call the
Phoenix Police Department. No matter where it is, we do not touch it,"
said Bierd, who is setting aside any flashlight that is donated.
In addition to the billboards, police are offering a $10,000 reward for
tips that lead to an arrest or conviction.
Police have received dozens of calls reporting possible flashlight bombs
that either turned out to be false alarms or hoaxes, including one from
a Goodwill store.
Meanwhile, the bombings have stopped, though it is unclear whether there
are more flashlights out there.
The attention may have scared them off or they may gain confidence and
strike again as the investigation stretches on without an arrest,
criminal profiler Gregg McCrary said.
Details of the case lead the former FBI agent to think the culprit is
either a man or two men, with one of them being a dominant leader and
the other a follower.
As for motive, whoever is responsible may be bombing at random for
various reasons, said McCrary, who teaches at Marymount University in
Virginia.
"Typically these things are about wanting to feel superior and smarter
than other people," he said, adding that they also might revel in the
news coverage.
"There'll be a vicarious thrill or excitement watching news coverage,
and it's kind of like: `Look what I've done.' It's a sense of
empowerment that `I made all this happen,'" he said.
Mangan said the remnants of the bombs are at a laboratory and being
studied for fingerprints and other DNA evidence. The ATF said it will
try to trace the materials used in the bombs to see where they were
bought.
Mangan said his agency and others are concerned that the bombings will
resume, possibly in a different container. They're also worried that the
injuries won't be so minor next time.
"Anytime any individual uses a bomb, their purpose is to create fear in
the community and also to inflict serious injury or death," he said.
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