On the evening of Sept. 18 — just a day after a bomb had shaken both New York City's Chelsea neighborhood and Seaside, New Jersey — explosive devices were found in an Elizabeth, New Jersey, train station. Elizabeth's mayor Chris Bollwage made a statement explaining how the device was found in the first place. "Two men walking by picked the backpack out of the garbage can thinking probably there was something of value in there," he said. According to NBC News, law enforcement officials think there were pipe bombs in the pack. A controlled explosion ensued and no one was injured, though FBI agents are examining the remaining devices.
Following the incident, Mayor Bollwage spoke with the media and recounted the timeline of the event. According to him, two men plucked the package out of the garbage because they thought it could contain something valuable, but thought otherwise when they realized it had wires inside of it. From that point on, they took it to the police headquarters. The device exploded as a drone was examining it, although it's unclear whether or not that explosion was controlled or not. FBI agents, Bollwage reported, are on the scene attempting to determine the nature of the scenario. NBC's news team affirmed on Twitter that they could both hear and feel the explosion.
CNN reported that the backpack could have contained more than one possible explosive device. In fact, by its measurements, it could have held up to five. For the East Coast, this unfortunately isn't the first scare to have occurred this past weekend. On Saturday evening, two bombs were found in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood — one of which exploded and injured 29 people. The second device was found by authorities, but did not detonate. Both, which appeared to have been made with pressure cookers, were filled with similar substance: metal BBs and other shrapnel. Earlier that day, another explosive device went off in a trash can near Seaside Park in New Jersey. No one was injured, but according to CNN, the two events could have been connected, considering they both used phones as timers and contained similar shrapnel.
The latest incident has triggered a strong response from bystanders on Twitter - many of whom recorded it, as well as its aftermath from the streets. In response, a greater number of police are present at the scene to ensure things is under control.
So far, it's unclear as to whether all of these scenarios are definitely connected, though that's certain to change after further investigation.
