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Chelsea Explosion: What We Know and Don’t Know Chelsea Explosion: What We Know and Don’t Know
(about 7 hours later)
A powerful explosion went off on West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, injuring 29 people, shattering windows and prompting widespread street closures. The authorities later found a second suspicious device a few blocks away. A powerful explosion on West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan sent 29 people to hospitals, shattered windows and prompted widespread street closures. The authorities later found a second suspicious device a few blocks away.
By Sunday morning, all of those injured had been released from the hospital, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said in a news conference. Officials said the explosion was intentional but the governor said that it did not appear to be linked to international terrorism. City and state officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, toured the area on Sunday and promised a thorough investigation. By Sunday night, police were engaged in a large-scale search for the person or people responsible.
Here is the latest: Here’s what we don’t yet know:
The police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said it happened in front of 131 West 23rd Street around 8:30 p.m. Witnesses said the explosion seemed to have come from a Dumpster on a sidewalk.
Officials said they believed the explosion had been caused by a homemade bomb.
The authorities said a suspicious device was found on West 27th Street between the Avenue of Americas and Seventh Avenue almost three hours after the explosion. Commissioner O'Neill, speaking at Police Headquarters on Sunday, said that the device was found by two state troopers who were doing a sweep of the area.
A photograph of the device that was shared on social media showed a silver piece of cookware with wires and a cellphone attached. The police confirmed the photo was authentic. But they said they were still investigating the components of the device.
The Police Department bomb squad removed the device around 2:25 a.m. and transported it to the department’s firing range at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx. The governor said on Sunday that some evidence would be sent to a lab in Quantico, Va. for analysis.
Many of the injuries were caused by shrapnel from the explosion. One person was seriously hurt, officials said. By Sunday morning, all 29 of those injured had been released from the hospital, according to Mr. Cuomo.
On Sunday, the governor said that there was no evidence of an international terrorism connection to the incident and said that no groups had claimed responsibility. Still, Mr. Cuomo cautioned that it was early in the investigation and said that whether it was an act of terrorism depended on how the word was defined: “A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism,” he said.
The police commissioner said at the news conference that there was no suspect. “We are still in the process of trying to figure that out,” Mr. O’Neill said.
He added that the authorities had collected video of the explosion but asked the public for any footage it might have, as well as eyewitness accounts and tips.
Avenue of the Americas was shut down between West 14th and West 27th streets on Sunday morning, according to the police. East-west streets from West 23rd to West 27th were also closed for one block in each direction from Avenue of the Americas.
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City said that there was no specific evidence linking the Chelsea explosion to a blast that happened 11 hours before in Seaside Park, N.J., where an improvised device exploded in a garbage can near the course of a charity race to benefit the United States Marine Corps.
But Mr. de Blasio added that “investigatory agencies continue to look to see if there’s any connection.”
The device in New Jersey went off around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, around the time the race was originally scheduled to have started. There were no injuries. Officials said that the race had been delayed for a separate reason and that there was no one on the course near the site of the explosion at the time.
Robert K. Boyce, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, said that the police also did not believe the blast in Chelsea to be related to a mysterious explosion in Central Park in July, in which a teenager from Virginia lost part of his leg.
• Who was responsible for the explosion.• Who was responsible for the explosion.
• A motive behind the explosion.• A motive behind the explosion.
• What was inside the pressure cooker.
• Why the site of the explosion was selected.• Why the site of the explosion was selected.
Here’s what we do know:
The police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said it occurred in front of 131 West 23rd Street.
Officials said they believed the explosion had been caused by a homemade bomb that had been placed under a Dumpster.
The authorities said a suspicious device was found on West 27th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue almost three hours after the explosion. Mr. O'Neill, speaking at Police Headquarters on Sunday, said the device was found by two state troopers performing a sweep of the area.
A photograph of the device that was shared on social media showed a silver piece of cookware with wires and a cellphone attached. The police confirmed that the photo was authentic.
The Police Department bomb squad removed the device around 2:25 a.m. and transported it to the department’s firing range at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx, where they rendered it safe. The police said the device would be examined further at the F.B.I.’s lab in Quantico, Va.
Many of the injuries were caused by shrapnel from the explosion. One person was seriously hurt, officials said. By Sunday morning, all 29 of those harmed had been released from the hospital.
On Sunday, the governor said that there was no evidence of an international terrorist connection to the explosion and that no groups had claimed responsibility. Still, Mr. Cuomo cautioned that it was early in the investigation and said that whether it was an act of terrorism depended on how the word was defined: “A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism,” he said.
Mr. de Blasio called the explosion "an intentional act."
The police said on Sunday that they had yet to make an arrest. Later in the day, two senior law enforcement officials said that there was a “person of interest” in the bombing, though it was unclear if that person had been identified.
Both devices — the one that exploded on West 23rd Street and the other that was found a few blocks away — were filled with shrapnel and made with pressure cookers, flip phones and Christmas lights that set off an explosive compound, law enforcement officials said.
Government officials said initially that they did not believe there was a link between the blasts in New Jersey and New York. But later on Sunday senior law enforcement officials said investigators were focusing more on the possibility that the two were connected. Still, the connection was not confirmed.
Robert K. Boyce, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, also said that the police did not believe the blast in Chelsea was related to a mysterious explosion in Central Park in July, when a teenager from Virginia lost part of his leg.
An improvised device exploded in a garbage can on Saturday in Seaside Park, N.J., near the course of a charity race to benefit members of the United States Marine Corps. The device went off at about 9:30 a.m., around the time the race was scheduled to have started. There were no injuries. Officials said that the race had been delayed for an unrelated reason and that there was no one on the course near the site of the explosion at the time.
Officials said that the device there consisted of three pipe bombs tied together, with a flip phone also used as a timing mechanism.
Avenue of the Americas between West 14th and West 27th streets was still shut down on Sunday night, according to the police. West 23rd Street was closed between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. The subway station at 23rd Street and Avenue of the Americas remained closed early Sunday night.