Fire investigators in Austin, Texas said Wednesday that they need the public’s help finding whoever created an unexploded bomb discovered last week in a business district on the northwest side of the city.

The device was discovered behind the Springwood Business Complex on Pond Springs Road by a woman walking her dog on April 22, police said. “It didn’t look alarming to me, it looked like trash,” the woman, who asked not to be named, told Austin ABC News affiliate KVUE-TV. “I considered picking it up and putting it in the dumpster. I feel very thankful that something told me not to.”

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Police have been on high alert since pressure cookers were used to detonate home-made explosives at the Boston Marathon on April 15, but so far this is the only actual explosive authorities in Austin have recovered since then. The Springwood Business Complex is largely vacant, although it hosts a Kumon math and reading center for young children.

Austin Fire Department Chief Arson Investigator Aaron Woolverton told KVUE-TV that it looks like a trial run for something bigger. “It really reeks more of experimentation than someone trying to target or hurt somebody, but we don’t know that for sure,” he said. “For all we know it could be an experimentation designed to lead up to something that really is meant to hurt somebody.”

He added that, even while lab tests are still forthcoming, the device has all the hallmarks of an improvised explosive device, including a fuse that appears to have burned out before the bomb could detonate. Anyone with information on who created the device is urged to contact arson investigators at 512-874-0240.

This video is from KVUE-TV, aired Wednesday, May 1, 2013.



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Photo: Shutterstock.com.