Tuesday, January 6, 2015

EXPLOSION OUTSIDE NAACP IN COLORADO DELIBERATE, FBI SAYS



Explosion outside NAACP in Colorado deliberate, FBI says



January 6, 2015



An explosion outside an NAACP office building in Colorado on Tuesday morning that rattled neighbors was caused deliberately, officials say.



improvised explosive device was detonated against the exterior wall of the NAACP building on South El Paso Street in Colorado Springs around 10:45 a.m. Mountain time. No one was injured, said Amy Sanders, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Denver.



A gasoline can had been placed near the device but did not ignite during the explosion, Sanders said.



The local NAACP headquarters building, which also houses a barbershop, suffered minor damage, she said. 



FBI Denver and the Colorado Springs Police Department are on the scene. A man aged about 40 is a person of interest in the investigation. He may be driving a 2000 or older-model dirty white pick-up truck with paneling, a dark-colored bed liner, an open tailgate and a missing or covered license plate.



The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also investigating the case, according to Christopher Amon, acting spokesman for the agency's Denver office.


It's not clear whether anyone was inside the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People office when the explosion occurred, but Gene Southerland, whose barbershop is in the same single-story building as the NAACP, said he heard the explosion Tuesday morning.



“I made sure my three customers were OK, then walked outside,” Southerland said. “On the northeast side of the building I saw a red gas can on the ground. Neighbors started walking out of their houses asking me, ‘What happened, what happened?’”


“It’s messed up, man. It’s horrible,” Southerland said. “In broad daylight? Just goes to show there’s always a threat.



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COLORADO SPRINGS - A Colorado Springs neighborhood was shaken Tuesday as a nearby building was rocked by an explosion. 
"I saw all the smoke coming out, and heading south. It really kind of made your heart stop for a second," said Colorado Springs resident, Julie Skufca.

Julie Skufca calls Moreno Street home but couldn't believe what she saw on Tuesday. A white pick-up truck with a 40-year-old white man inside, zipping by their house seconds after the blast.

"I couldn't figure out how such a new truck made such a big backfire," said Skufca.

The FBI tells News 5 that an explosive device, next to a gas can was detonated but the can didn't explode. The blast left singe marks against the building that houses Mr. G's Hair Design Studios and the local chapter of the NAACP.

Which is why federal agents are trying to figure out if this was a targeted attack, something the group's president says only spurs them on.

"We don't give up the struggle, apparently we are doing something correct. Apparently we have the attention of someone that knows we are working for civil rights for all. That is making some people uncomfortable, so therefore they feel the need to target," said Colorado Springs NAACP President, Henry Allen Jr.

And they certainly aren't alone in their frustrations as an entire neighborhood remains in shock of what happened just feet from their homes.

"It's kind of sad. I mean it's close to home and with kids you're kind of like, I guess we won't be going out in the front yard anymore," said Skufca.

The suspect in this case is described as a white male in his 40's, balding and heavier set driving a white pickup truck with paneling, a dark truck-bed and missing or covered plates.

If you have any information on this case you're asked to contact authorities immediately.