The Associated Press – Vacaville police officers and an ATF agent work near the scene of a possible pipe bomb explosion that severely injured a man in his driveway in Vacaville, Calif., Sunday, March 27, 2011. According to police, about 10:30 a.m., an elderly man on Cashel Circle was severely injured when a possible pipe bomb inside of a newspaper exploded in his driveway. Numerous bomb squads responded to the scene as police evacuated residents from homes and blocked off a wide radius after an additional suspicious package was located in the area.
“I thought something in the garage had exploded,” said Gil Guerrero, a firefighter with emergency medical training who lives across the street from the victim and was at his side moments after the bomb went off.
The force of the blast nearly took off a finger on the man’s right hand and caused other injuries to his arm and side, Guerrero and other neighbors said Monday.
Police in Vacaville — about halfway between the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento — would not identify the victim, who is in his 80s, and advised his family members not to release their names or discuss the case, in the event a threat to their safety remains.
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Why and how it happened remains an open question.
Vacaville police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms worked Monday to identify the bomb-maker, but remained tight-lipped about the investigation. No suspects have been named, nor has a motive been established.
The bomb apparently was inside a newspaper, but it was unclear whether the newspaper was intended for the victim. Homes in the area on Monday had copies of at least two different publications sitting on their lawns and driveways, some delivered by subscription and others delivered for free as a promotion.
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