Feds take over Northfield bomb investigation

Elizabeth Murray | Free Press Staff Writer

Show Caption Hide Caption Lt. Burnham provides Northfield blast updates Lt. Lance Burnham updates members of the media Thursday afternoon about the homemade pipe-bomb explosion that injured four people.

NORTHFIELD - Jon Anderson's North Street house shook from what sounded like an explosion Wednesday evening, prompting his wife along with other neighbors to call 911, he recalled Thursday.

Anderson was not home at the time of the explosion, but arrived home as his wife was calling emergency services. Anderson's wife later told him that she had seen several people from a home on the adjacent Maple Avenue get into cars and drive away shortly after she heard the loud "bang," he said.

Soon, Anderson's street and Maple Avenue were clogged with police, firefighters, ambulances and the Vermont State Police Bomb Squad.

"There was no smoke, and no fire, which is what I would have expected in the aftermath of that," Anderson, an 18-year resident of the neighborhood, said. "It's just odd because this is a pretty quiet neighborhood."

Vermont State Police later revealed that four people were injured in an explosion attributed to what appeared to be a homemade pipe bomb in the Northfield apartment. One person lost a hand and another person lost part of a hand, Lt. Lance Burnham said Thursday afternoon. One of the individuals was holding the pipe bomb when it exploded.

Mark McCloud, a Northfield resident, was seriously injured in the explosion and lost his hand, according to Washington County State’s Attorney Scott Williams. Williams said McCloud has a "decent and varied record." His court records show convictions for violating an abuse prevention order, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, among others.

Burnham said investigators were withholding the names of the three others injured, citing the ongoing investigation. Their names were not released as of 5 p.m. Thursday. Burnham said Thursday evening that the case had been absorbed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and Explosives and that their agency would be leading the investigation.

Attempts to reach ATF investigators after business hours Thursday were unsuccessful.

Burnham could not say whether arrests were anticipated or whether a crime had occurred. A joint investigation by state police, the ATF and the FBI was ongoing. He added that the FBI was not physically present on the scene.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont Eric Miller said his office has been notified of the incident by the ATF, and he anticipated reviewing the case for possible charges within the next few days.

Miller said it is a federal felony to possess an unregistered pipe bomb, but declined to comment on specifics of the Northfield investigation. The crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

"We are monitoring the investigation closely and, when the investigation is complete, consider whether or not to bring federal criminal charges," Miller said.

The incident was reported at about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday and occurred in a home at the intersection of Maple Avenue and North Street, according to police. The location is around the corner from Northfield Middle/High School.

The Vermont State Police Bomb Squad arrived around 10 p.m. and rendered the area safe by about 12 a.m.Thursday, Lt. John Flannigan said.

"There is no danger to the public at this time," the state police said in a news release issued a few hours later. Investigators maintained that belief Thursday.

Burnham added that investigators did not believe, as of Thursday afternoon, that the bombs were connected to potential acts of terrorism.

Five people were in the home at the time of the explosion, according to a news release from Vermont State Police. The incident occurred in an apartment in a multi-unit building, police said.

Lt. Flannigan said that one person was seriously injured in the incident, while three others received minor injuries and were transferred to Central Vermont Hospital in Berlin and Gifford Medical Center in Randolph. At least one person may have been transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. Flannigan said one of the four people had been released from the hospital as of Thursday afternoon.

All people injured were in the apartment in which the bomb went off, Flannigan said. Those present were not all residents of the apartment. No one in neighboring apartments was harmed, Flannigan said.

Four to five homes containing about seven to eight people were evacuated while the Vermont State Police Bomb Squad investigated the scene near the intersection of Maple Avenue and North Street on Wednesday night, Flannigan said.

"They were evacuated to other places they could stay for the night," Flannigan said.

While state police said in a news release that residents were allowed to return home Thursday morning, law enforcement remained on the scene. Those present included Vermont State Police officers and bomb squad, Northfield police and firefighters and investigators from ATF. Burnham confirmed Thursday afternoon that a bomb sniffing K9 was also on the scene.

Vermont State Police Bomb Squad and the ATF began a warrant search of the apartment involved in the incident at 9 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release. The investigators determined that the explosion was consistent as having been the result of a “homemade pipebomb”.

Investigators also discovered a second non-exploded device, according to the release. The device was safely defused. Burnham said bomb-related materials were also discovered, but he did not know whether those materials were pieces to make a bomb.

Investigators concluded their search by early Thursday afternoon, according to a news release. They planned to conduct interviews and examine materials collected at the scene throughout the day, Burnham said.

Police are finishing up their investigation. 5 people in apartment at time of explosion, 4 injured #vt #btv pic.twitter.com/AJQqSiddDF — Elizabeth Murray (@LizMurraySMC) December 10, 2015

Aside from law enforcement, the neighborhood was quiet late Thursday morning and into the afternoon.

Maple Avenue resident Andi Brown was walking her dogs, and she said that nothing like the events of the previous evening have ever happened in her quiet neighborhood.

"This is very unusual," Brown said. "I don't think we've had any excitement like this in the 13 years I've lived here. It's kind of scary."

Brown said her boyfriend was home when explosion happened and he told her it "sounded like a gunshot." She arrived home when police were already on scene. Her home was not evacuated.

Fellow neighborhood-resident Anderson said the apartment in which the incident had occurred had been vacant for a time before the current tenants moved in one to two months ago.

"They look like regular Vermont folks," Anderson said. "I didn't see anything suspicious."

Northfield is a Washington County town of 6,200 residents about 50 miles southeast of Burlington.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.