FBI talking with 'person of interest' in mall bomb plot - KDVR

Web Staff KDVR Denver

8:40 p.m. MDT, April 20, 2011

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LITTLETON, Colo. -- FOX31 News has learned that the FBI is holding a "person of interest" in Wednesday’s attempted bombing at Southwest Plaza mall, though the name of the person has yet to be released.

The first device was found at about 11:50 a.m. when a mall employee noticed a fire in a hallway near the food court, the witness told FOX31 News. He immediately contacted security officers who began evacuating the sprawling indoor shopping center at Wadsworth & Bowles.

He said the device was attached to two camping propane tanks, neither of which exploded.

The Jefferson County Bomb Squad responded and later found a pipe bomb in the same hallway, Jefferson County spokeswoman Jackie Kelley said.

When crews tried to explode the propane bomb using a remote-controlled robot, it appeared to fall apart and any detonation became unnecessary.

Kelley refused to elaborate on the level of sophistication involved in the bombs' designs.

“We obviously have a suspect who is still at large. We have a case that we want to prosecute and an arrest we want to make, so we’re going to be a little tight lipped around that,” Kelley said earlier in the afternoon.

The mall was to remain closed for the remainder of the night.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirms that it is assisting in the investigation, but would not immediately classify this as a case of domestic terrorism.

“It's too early to speculate," FBI spokesman Dave Joly told FOX31 News. He said the devices could have caused “serious" damage, if they had detonated.

More than two dozen Jefferson County schools were placed on lockout as a precaution, meaning there was only one point of entry and exit for each school.

The incident comes on the 12th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in which 12 students and one teacher were murdered by two students who eventually took their own lives.

via kdvr.com