Three Bombs Found in New Jersey After Explosion Sparks Terrorism Fears

No-one was injured in the blast on Ocean Avenue in the town of Seaside Park, which happened shortly before 3,000 runners were due to take part in a charity race to benefit USA marines.

But officials won’t say if they believe the incident in Seaside Park on Saturday was terror-related or if it had any connection with an explosion that rocked a crowded Manhattan neighborhood Saturday night, injuring 29 people.

“We’re out there conducting interviews, we’re out there securing evidence and we’re making sure there is no stone left unturned”, said Brad Cohen, who is the special agent in charge of the Newark, New Jersey, office, according to CNN.

“You don’t want to jump to conclusions and you don’t want to put information out there that you don’t know is absolutely true”, he also said.

He declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Authorities found two undetonated shrapnel devices connected to the exploded bomb, but it appears it “didn’t do the damage it was supposed to”, Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.

“We don’t believe at this time that there’s any evidence connecting this to the attacks in NY or Minnesota”, Christie said in an interview Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union”. An Islamic State-run news agency claims man was a “soldier of the Islamic State”.

Two officials briefed on the investigation said preliminary results indicate that the devices in the trash can packed enough explosive punch to cause serious injury to people if the race had actually started on time. But the start of the race had been delayed and no one was in the immediate area when the blast happened. The beaches and boardwalk were reopened in Seaside Park on Sunday.

Runner Adam Carswell of Toms River, New Jersey, told NBC New York that he saw smoke emitting from a garbage can after the blast.

“We’re continuing to work with the authorities to make sure that we bring whoever is responsible for this to justice as quickly as possible”, he said.

“It was done intentionally to try to terrorize the people of New Jersey”, he said. But after thinking about it for a minute, Ruedin said he thought to himself “that was one hell of a start to a race”.

He said those in the area have been through a lot, with Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and its aftermath, and now the bomb blast. Some other community events went on as planned in nearby towns on Saturday, though officials said security at those sites had been stepped up in the wake of the blast. It was not immediately clear if the extremist group had planned the attack or even knew about it beforehand.