By The newspaper
25 Jul 2024, 01:21 AM EDT
A suspicious device discovered outside a New York police station in East Harlem (Manhattan) in the midst of a confusing incident between two men, sparked a large mobilization in the area yesterday.
A suspect was arrested in connection with the incident. He was not identified and charges against him were pending, the report said. Daily News. Investigators were working to determine whether the device was capable of exploding, although police said it appeared real.
The device was found outside the 25th Precinct station house on E. 119th St. near Lexington Ave. shortly before noon Wednesday and prompted an immediate response from the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit and bomb squad, authorities said. The area was quickly cordoned off as a precaution, though evacuation of police headquarters was not deemed necessary.
The incident began at 11:50 a.m. when two uniformed police officers were approached by a pair of men in a vehicle. The driver told them he had been the victim of a domestic assault and claimed the passenger had attacked him with a machete inside the vehicle, Deputy Police Chief Ruel Stevenson said.
The driver then told officers about the location of the machete inside the vehicle and officers detained the passenger and seized the weapon. But during that process, the driver revealed there was also an explosive device inside the vehicle, Stevenson said.
Police determined that the man hit his cousin who was driving in the back of the head with the machete, causing a bleeding hematoma, according to NBC News.
Emergency Services Unit and Bomb Squad personnel immediately responded to the scene. “We located and recovered what I will describe as a potentially viable improvised explosive device,” said Mark Torre, commander of the NYPD Bomb Squad, during a news conference at the scene.
The case remains open. Police described the device as a “potentially viable improvised explosive device” and “capable of causing death or serious injury to anyone nearby and property damage” if real.