The Philadelphia Police Department is searching for at least three teenagers who allegedly attempted to light sticks of dynamite inside a grocery store, according to reports.
The incident occurred at the Fresh Grocer located on the 5300 block of Chew Avenue in the city's Germantown section on June 20 at 5:10 P.M., local news station Fox 29 reported.
Police have said that a member of security called the police after seeing teens roughly between the ages of 16 and 19 years old wearing all-black clothing "light sticks of dynamite within the store," according to the report.
Police have not yet said how much dynamite they believe the teenagers had. The bomb squad did recover an explosive at the scene but the suspects were able to flee the area before the police arrived at the store.
It's unclear how many people were inside the business at the time of the incident. No physical injuries were reported.
Newsweek reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department and the Fresh Grocer company via email for comment.
While it is not clear what the alleged suspects' intentions were at the grocery store, earlier this month the Philadelphia Police Department had to deal with the use of explosives in a robbery.
An attempted robbery at a variety store in Philadelphia's Olney neighborhood on June 7 saw the bomb squad called after suspects attempted to blow up an ATM inside the store, Fox 29 reported at the time.
An employee told authorities they saw three men enter the store on the 4700 block of North 5th Street with an item that appeared to be a stick of dynamite. It was later discovered that the item was an illegal improvised explosive device (IED). The suspects allegedly placed the IED inside the money slot of an ATM and attempted to light the fuse.
When the fuse failed to light, police said the suspects then fled the store.
The explosive device was six inches long and one inch in diameter with a three-inch fuse. Once the bomb squad was called to the scene, the device was removed from the ATM and put in a safe container to transport elsewhere.
The device would "do damage to an ATM and it will cause very, very severe injuries to someone that's holding it or standing near it," Philadelphia Police Chief Scott Small told the news station. "So this is a very, very dangerous device."
Police said they are conducting an investigation to identify the suspects.
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Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
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