FBI: Courthouse bomb was simple, but deadly

By Greg Gross
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

3:03 p.m. May 5, 2008



FBI photo
FBI agents investigated the scene of a bombing outside the Edward J. Schwartz U.S. Courthouse downtown yesterday. The blast occurred at 1:40 a.m. Sunday, and no one was hurt.

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From today's U-T

Explosion damages federal courthouse
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Photo gallery

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Update


7:40 a.m., May 5, 2008

There will be no court proceedings at the federal courthouse on Monday because of damage caused by a pipe bomb explosion at the building early Sunday. However, the FBI said the clerk's office will be open for business.



SCOTT LINNETT / Union-Tribune
An FBI agent bagged evidence yesterday in front of the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego. Bomb experts in Virginia will examine the debris.






SCOTT LINNETT / Union-Tribune
An evidence marker and paint showed the location of shrapnel found across the street from the blast.

SAN DIEGO – The pipe bomb that blasted the front of the downtown federal courthouse early Sunday morning wasn't especially sophisticated, but it was purpose-built to injure or kill and was powerful enough to hurl shrapnel in a two-block radius, FBI officials said Monday.
According to FBI Special Agent Keith Slotter, the device consisted of multiple tubes that detonated simultaneously and was packed with more than 50 nails, creating the kind of shrapnel that could have injured or killed passersby. “This was a powerful device,â€