Shoppers were evacuated from a Florida mall Sunday evening when two pipe bombs blew up, causing a fire to break out.
No one was injured by the devices, which went off at around 5:30 p.m. at the Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales, about 60 miles east of Tampa, Lake Wales Deputy Police Chief Troy Schulze told reporters, as cited by NBC News.
Fire crews were alerted when a shopper saw smoke coming from the entrance to a JC Penny store, CBS affiliate WTSP-TV, Tampa Bay-Sarasota reported. They detected the smoke emerging from a service corridor, and found two exploded pipe bombs and a backpack nearby.
Police described the devices as flare-like objects in PVC pipe, wrapped in electrical tape. If anyone had been near the devices when they blew up, they could have been injured, said Schulze.
"It's very concerning to us," Schulze said. "We're a family-oriented community. This is a family-oriented mall. When this started, my son was actually working here at this mall...
"People here shopping, just enjoying a Sunday afternoon or evening with their families, and literally 'boom,'" he said.
Another suspicious device was found at a movie theater near the mall, but the state's fire marshals determined it was harmless.
Police are seeking a middle-aged, heavy-set man wearing a grey hat and a grey shirt man seen running from the scene for questioning.
They say it is too early to determine whether the incident was an attempted terror attack, but have notified the FBI.
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