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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013
CRIME
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
No injuries reported after explosion at Oregon office
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEDFORD, Ore. — An explosive device that police say was designed to destroy an Oregon county prosecutor's office instead blew out windows in a pre-dawn blast Wednesday that did little other damage.
The FBI said it was too early to say whether the blast in Jackson County was terror-related, but Medford Police Chief Tim George said he considered the explosion a domestic terror attack aimed at law enforcement.
No one was hurt when the device fashioned in part from a 5-gallon propane tank exploded. Police say it failed to fully detonate.
About 25 federal investigators from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Seattle and Portland were joining the effort to gather evidence about the explosive device, George said.
"The most important thing in these cases, as we've seen over the years, is the methodical collection of evidence." George said. "I would bet the house on it, we are going to clear this case."
After the explosion, a silver-colored propane tank, similar to those
used for camping, lay dented on its side in front of the broken windows at the prosecutor's office.
Two windows near the entrance were broken out of the one-story brick building across a quiet neighborhood street from the jail and courthouse. Yellow crime scene tape surrounded the building and evidence markers dotted the parking lot.
"The bomb bomb on scene said had it detonated, there would have been devastation at the scene and the building would have been destroyed." said Medford police spokesman Lt. Mike Budurew. "We believe there was something else attached to (the propane tank) that was intended to blow it up, but was not successful."
No one was inside the building when the blast hit around 4:30 a.m. When investigators arrived, the tank was burning, and it continued to burn until the propane ran out, police said.
Budreau said police were searching for a man who ran from an officer several blocks away, but it's unclear if he had anything to do with the explosion.
George said there were no suspects and no indications of the motive. While the district attorney's office regularly gets threats from people, none stand out as potentially related, he said.
"I think it is domestic terrorism, absolutely," due to the type of explosive device and the intent to do heavy damage to the district attorney's office, George said. "We don't know what the message was. We don't know what the intent was."
Police withheld details of the explosive device, such as how it was detonated and what kind of explosive was used.
Police went house to house warning people to stay indoors and cleared a large area around the office out of fears there might be other explosive devices, but tightened the closed area after none was found.
The district attorney's office was closed, with a skeleton crew working at another site, District Attorney Beth Heckert said. The courthouse was to reopen in the afternoon, and grand jury proceedings in unrelated cases were to resume Thursday.
George said authorities were making a point of not allowing the explosion to disrupt their regular duties.
A damaged propane tank lays among debris in front of the Jackson County District Attorney's office after an explosion shattered windows and damaged the building's interior Wednesday in Medford, Ore. Officers say they found a burning propane tank in front of the prosecutor's office after an explosion they believed was an attempt to level the building.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NATIONAL
Three students shot outside Pittsburgh high school
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this aerial image provided by KDKA-TV, a person is loaded into an ambulance near Brashear High School in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PITTSBURGH — Three Pittsburgh high school students heading to their vehicle after classes ended were shot Wednesday afternoon, and police investigating whether the shooting stemmed from a drug-related dispute had six people in custody for questioning, school and police officials said.
The victims were shot outside Brashear High School as they walked to a vehicle they'd all taken to school earlier in the day, school district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said. Nearby residents said they heard seven or eight shots.
The wounds of the victims, all boys, appeared to be non-life-threatening, both Pugh and police spokeswoman Diane Richard said, though their descriptions of the wounds differed slightly. Pugh said two students were grazed in the head and one was shot in both the foot and arm. Richard said one was grazed in the neck and shoulder, but not the head.
voice believe the shooting might stem from a drug-related fight between some students last month, Richard said. Neither she nor school district officials immediately provided more details.
Six people were brought in for questioning, Pittsburgh public safety director Michael Huss said about two hours after the shooting. Police said some were current or former students, but Richard wouldn't say whether any were considered suspects or necessarily going to be charged.
"There are no arrests at this time, though we have some folks of interest," Huss said. "Our police need the time to do a thorough job here and we need to give them that time."
Acting police Chief Regina McDonald confirmed, however, that police had stopped searching for gunmen, and Huss said. "The situation is under control."
None of the victims immediately spoke or cooperated with police, Richard said. All were listed
in good to stable condition at city hospitals, she said. Two are 17 and one is 16.
The student who was shot in the head was found inside the school, though that's because he "made his way back to the school, and was pulled back inside by one of the administrators," Richard said.
one stressed, "There was no shooting at Brashear school. ... The shooting did not happen in the school."
Brashear, with about 1,400 students in grades nine through 12 about two miles south of downtown, was locked down briefly, though students were released to their parents about 90 minutes after the shooting.
According to a Safe Schools report filed annually with the state, Brashear had 97 incidents involving 138 people during the 2012-13 school year, but none resulted in a police response or arrests. Forty-seven students were disciplined for fighting, the report said.
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