Thread: Homemade bombs found at mall near Columbine high

Homemade bombs found at mall near Columbine high

By Keith Coffman – 9 mins ago

DENVER (Reuters) – A busy shopping mall near Columbine High School was evacuated on Wednesday when authorities discovered two propane tanks and a pipe bomb, authorities said.

Twelve years to the day after two Columbine High School students shot dead a teacher, 12 students and themselves on April 20, 1999, the devices were found at Southwest Plaza Mall, about a mile from Columbine.

Jacki Kelley, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, said a small fire broke in the mall's food court around noon on Wednesday.

When firefighters arrived, they discovered the propane tank bombs "at the origin of the fire," and police evacuated the estimated 10,000 people in the mall, Kelley said.

Bomb squads later discovered the pipe bomb as they went through the sprawling mall with bomb-detecting dogs, she said.

Among the arsenal that Columbine school shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris brought during their assault in 1999 were pipe bombs and propane tanks fashioned into bombs.

The similarity to the explosives in the school attack was not lost on investigators, Kelley said.

"It's very disturbing that this happened today of all days," Kelley said.

The FBI was called to the scene and are viewing the bomb placements as "a case of domestic terrorism," Kelley said.

Investigators were reviewing mall surveillance videotapes for clues.

"If whoever did this is caught, they will certainly face federal charges," she said.

Columbine cancels classes each year on the anniversary of the massacre. But other schools in the area were put on lockdown on Wednesday until the all clear was given, Kelley said.

The mall will remain closed until the investigation is finished.

Discovery of the pipe bomb came on the same day police in Colorado Springs, about 50 miles to the southeast, confronted a teenage boy who admitted posting "Columbine-style threats" against his high school on his Facebook account.

A police spokesman said the Palmer High School ninth grader told officers who visited his home that the threats were meant as a joke, and he apologized, along with his family.

The student, whose name was not released, also agreed to stay home from school on Wednesday.

Police patrols and security at the school also were stepped up as a precaution, police said.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman and Steve Gorman; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Greg McCune)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110421/us_ ... bine_bombs

Maybe it is a reminder that they don't like bullies over there.