Bomb technicians worked all afternoon and into the night to disarm a number of explosive devices discovered in a DFW-area park on Sunday.
A person walking through a wooded area of Wynne Park in Garland noticed an open suitcase and suspicious items scattered around it that looked like “pipe bombs,” Fox 4 KDFW reported. The alert citizen called the police at approximately 11:30 a.m. to report the finding.
The Garland Police Bomb Unit and local FBI bomb technicians responded to the scene near West Centerville Road and First Street and confirmed that the scattered items were live homemade explosive devices, according to a department news release.
Police did not say how many devices were found, instead describing them as “numerous.”
“The first thing that they did was make sure that everything was safe,” Garland Police Lt. Pedro Barineau said, per Fox 4. “We made sure that the residents in the north of the neighborhood were made aware. They locked down the area and they began the process of rendering each device safe, which was a long process.”
“Bomb technicians worked through the day and into the night to safely render each device inoperative. FBI investigators, along with Garland PD Detectives, are continuing the investigation to determine the origin and intent behind the devices,” police said in the news release.
In addition, investigators searched the area with an explosives dog to make sure that all incendiary devices in the area had been found and disarmed.
Police said it was unclear how long the suitcase and devices had been there.
“As of right now, it’s still very much an active investigation. We’re still trying to determine how this suitcase arrived at the park, who this suitcase belonged to, and ultimately what was the intent behind these explosive devices,” said Lt. Barineau.
Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call the Garland Police Department at 972-485-4840 or Garland Crime Stoppers at 972-272-8477.