There was a scary scene at the Jersey Shore on Saturday morning when a pipe bomb was detonated. Thankfully the explosion didn’t injure anyone, but there was the intention to hurt many because it happened during a Marines 5K run where there were thousands of people. The pipe bomb was hidden in a garbage bin, and on the route of the Semper 5K run in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
Thousands of runners and spectators were about to participate or witness the third annual Seaside Semper Five 5K Charity Run, but around 9:30 a.m., right before the start of the race there was an explosion.
Runners in the charity race had been scheduled to pass by the dangerous area at the time of the blast, but the event had luckily been delayed.
The military charity race was canceled and the area was put on lockdown, and the bridge from the mainland was closed to inbound traffic.
The reason or cause of the explosion was not immediately known, but a spokesman for the prosecutor said the device was not a “prank.”
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Al Della Fave says “multiple additional devices” were wired to the pipe bomb that was detonated, but the others did not go off.
Numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident, including the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the ATF.
Seeing that the timing was to happen when there were thousands of people around and especially military personnel, this would appear to be a deliberate attack.
Thankfully this attack was not successful, but it conjures up memories of the Boston Marathon Bombing that killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 people.
[News12]