A large explosive device thought to be a pipe bomb exploded in the parking lot this morning of the Chabad House, located at 1428 17th Street in Santa Monica. California.
The entire building had to be evacuated, and two walls of the structure were reported to have been blown out.
Local station KTLA reported that "FBI, LAPD, a bomb squad and the Santa Monica Police Department" were all present to evacuate synagogue-goers and investigate the source of the 6:45 a.m. explosion."
This apparently was timed to take place during morning prayers...and as an aside, since this is an Orthodox synagogue,the members of the congregation were all identifiably Jewish, wearing kippot (skullcaps), tzit-tzit, etc.
A California State University San Bernardino hate-crime expert explained to radio station KNX reporters that he thinks a device even larger than a pipe bomb may have been planted. "This device looks fairly large," he says. "The fact of the matter is this is not some 16-year-old kid with a four-to-six-inch pipe bomb.
UPDATE: Apparently the police and FBI have determined this was NOT a pipe bomb, but a utility pipe explosion. I'm not buying that just yet,after hearing the police spokesman talk to reporters. Perhaps they're keeping things quiet while they investigate. Thank G-d no one was hurt.
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