Jihad Chicago?

Source: chicago tribune

Pipe bomb explodes at Metra station; man questioned but released

The maker of a sophisticated pipe bomb that exploded in a trash receptacle inside the Hinsdale Metra station early Friday still was at large late in the day, police said.

Nobody was injured in the 6:50 a.m. blast inside the ticket building, authorities said.

A man witnesses had pointed to as possibly being involved was released after a consensual search of his home turned up nothing, Hinsdale Police Chief Bradley Bloom said. The man had been seen near the receptacle and was apprehended at Union Station about an hour and a half later.

Bloom said the department has not ruled that man, or anyone else, out but said police don't have a good description of who may have left the bomb. There are no security cameras at the station, and nobody saw anyone place the bomb, he said.

U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Thomas Ahern said authorities do not believe the incident was terrorist-related, although they do not have a motive yet. He said the device was "improvised" but not a manufactured bomb. Its remnants will be sent to a Maryland laboratory for examination, Ahern said.

The device was more elaborate than some—it had a timer that allowed a delayed detonation, authorities said.

"We're a little concerned, because it was a somewhat sophisticated device," Bloom said, referring to the timer. "And it was just inside the door" of the station, he said.

If someone had been near it, he or she could have been seriously hurt, Ahern said. *snip*

In a separate incident Friday, passengers evacuated a Metra train at the Dee Road station in northwest suburban Park Ridge after reports of a strange odor, authorities said. Illinois State Police and Cook County sheriff's police dogs searched the train.

Nothing was found on the train, which was later taken to a train yard so mechanics could try to determine what the chemical smell was, he said.

The incidents in Hinsdale and Park Ridge were not related, Reile said.

Enough with the ridiculous, CAIR pleasing denials, por favor? A sophisticated device seems like plenty of evidence to me to at least suggest it COULD be terror related. I beg our authorities to stop ruling out terror before they've even conducted an investigation. A simple "we are investigating all possibilities and leads at this time" would suffice nicely, thank you.

And of course, how could they "know" the incidents aren't related?

Could this be a practice run for something bigger? Will update as reports, if reports, come in.

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