Anaheim police and the Orange County Sheriff's Department have launched an investigation after a pipe bomb exploded in an alley near Disneyland, shaking homes and businesses within the immediate area on Easter Sunday.
Police Sgt. Daron Wyatt said officers were called to the scene at about 1:50 p.m after receiving notice of an explosion. The bomb had exploded shortly before then at the 600 block of North Anaheim Boulevard near Wilhelmina Street.
He added that the allegedly metallic bomb was placed on the ground at the base of a light pole against a concrete wall separating commercial buildings to the east and residences to the west. Despite being nestled away in an area out of view, It detonated with such so much force that the bomb's cap left a hole in a wooden fence 40 feet away that looked like a saw had cut through it.
Overall the damage to the area wasn't major, only leaving behind some minor charring and damage which was visible on the nearby wall and pole it was nestled against, as well as the aforementioned hole in the metal fence.
Police are unsure if anyone was inside the building where the bomb had had been placed, but are certain that no one was damaged when the explosion occurred. Regardless, they evacuated the area momentarily while they investigated the area.
Despite the pipe bomb causing relatively little damage, residents nearby were shocked by the incident, especially since it occurred during Easter Sunday.
"I thought something actually fell from the sky, from like an airplane, because it was so loud," said 46-year-old Tammy Farrell who reports being inside her home at the time of the explosion.
"I smelled the smell of burning, chemicals," said Ana Trujillo, a receptionist at a nearby business. "There was a black piece of cloth, a metal piece and a black container and smoke was still coming out of the container."
News of explosions caused by pipe bombs or other IED's are uncommon, but always cause a splash in the affected community when they do. In February, authorities scrambled to the scene of an explosion in West Virginia after an alleged IED detonated in the vicinity. No one saw the explosive or the explosion in that case - only the aftermath. Bomb technicians recovered the remains of the device and took it to the lab for analysis.
Similarly in this case, authorities have recovered the remains of the device in hopes of finding its source.
"The device has been collected by the Orange County Sheriff's bomb squad, and they'll process the device forensically and see if they can ascertain the source of the device," said Wyatt.
As of Sunday evening, authorities have no suspects in custody.
