After a minivan explosion caused a brief power outage in a residential neighborhood, the FBI is investigating a possible terrorist attack.
Police from two California cities, Montclair and Ontario, are working alongside the FBI in the investigation.
The explosion was reported just after midnight in the 4500 block of Kingsley Street. The Montclair Police Department reports that the blast briefly knocked out the power in parts of the neighborhood, but residents thought that the outage was due to a blown transformer at the time.
When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered an unoccupied 2003 Dodge minivan with significant damage. Video from Sky5 showed that the roof of the minivan was completely ripped off, and debris was strewn across the middle of the road.
According to officials, the source of the destruction came from an explosion within the passenger compartment area. The explosion did not cause any damage to nearby structures or other vehicles, and no one was injured.
The Ontario bomb squad was called in to the location, and eventually notified the FBI. Officials are still unsure as to what exactly caused the explosion, though they have determined that multiple explosives were used.
“It could be a multitude of things. It’s really hard to say what it specifically was. But it was something other than the vehicle itself that exploded with inside it and caused the damage,” said Montclair Police Chief Robert Avels.
Avels also noted that there is no evidence that the vehicle owners were involved in the explosion, and it has not been determined whether they were the target of the attack.
“Right now we’re still trying to develop further information, but there are currently no suspect leads on this incident,” he said, adding that police “do believe there was some form of a crime” committed.
The neighborhood where the attack occurred has since been deemed safe.
Authorities are currently in the process of viewing surveillance video from a nearby residence, hoping that it will provide some clues as to possible suspects or a motive.
Anyone with information about the explosion is urged to call police at 909-621-4771.
