FBI: NAACP explosion in Colo. could be domestic terror

Trevor Hughes | USA TODAY

COLORADO SPRINGS — The FBI says agents are investigating whether the detonation of an improvised explosive device outside a building housing NAACP offices was an act of domestic terrorism.

No one was hurt in the Tuesday morning explosion, and the FBI said agents are investigating whether the NAACP offices were specifically targeted. The building also houses Mr G'S Hair Design Studios, and the explosion happened closer to the salon's end of the building, witnesses said. Colorado Springs is the state's second-largest city, and home to tens of thousands of active-duty and retired military.

"We are investigating all potential motives at this time and an act of domestic terrorism is certainly one possibility," said FBI spokeswoman Amy Sanders.

Investigators say the small IED was placed next to a gasoline can and detonated, but the gas didn't ignite and the explosion caused only "minimal" damage. On Tuesday evening, the FBI was searching for a possible suspect, described as a white, balding man about 40 years old and driving a newer model white but dirty pickup with a dark bed liner.

Investigators Tuesday were examining a red gasoline canister with a yellow nozzle that had been placed next to the explosive. They checked pieces of duct tape and metal lying 40 to 50 feet away from the explosion site, according to the Associated Press.

In a statement, the Baltimore-based national office of the NAACP said it looked forward to a "full and thorough" investigation. The local office reopened for business by Tuesday afternoon, with staff fielding calls from reporters while answering questions from investigators about who might have wanted to target them and why.

Colorado Springs is home to multiple military bases, including Fort Carson and Peterson Air Force Base, along with the U.S. Olympic Committee and USOC Training Center. Many of the volunteers who staff the NAACP branch there are retired military.