Sunday, May 2, 2010
10:43 pm
UPDATED 1:39 AM
“Police Diffuse Car Bomb In Times Square”
By: NY1 News
SNIPPET: “Police are on the scene in Times Square this morning where authorities say they discovered and are in the process of dismantling a bomb inside an SUV.
The device, made of three propane tanks and two gasoline containers, apparently had a timing device attached to it. It was discovered by a passing New York City Police Department patrolman in a Nissan Pathfinder that was idling with its hazard lights on.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 45th Street and Seventh Avenue, where they discovered a smoking package inside the SUV. Bomb squad officers arrived soon after.
Initially police had received a call of a car fire just after 6 p.m.
There were reports from witnesses of a small explosion by the car, followed by many people running from the scene.
Police evacuated a block of 45th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues, and several Broadway theaters and restaurants were cleared of patrons.”
UPDATE:
“3 cops, street vendor stop Times Square car bomb from detonating; Gas, clock found inside car”
BY ALISON GENDAR, ROCCO PARASCANDOLA, KEVIN DEUTSCH AND SAMUEL GOLDSMITH
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Originally Published:Saturday, May 1st 2010, 9:34 PM
Updated: Sunday, May 2nd 2010, 3:20 AM
SNIPPET: “Three heroic cops and a quick-thinking street vendor stopped a madman from detonating a car bomb in the heart of Times Square Saturday night, law enforcement officials told the Daily News.
The T-shirt vendor - a Vietnam vet - told Officer Wayne Rhatigan there was smoke coming from a Nissan SUV on the southwest corner of 45th St. and Broadway about 7 p.m., sources said.
Rhatigan approached the car, saw the smoke, and sprang into action.
“I did a lap around the vehicle. The inside was smoking,” Rhatigan told the Daily News Saturday night. “I smelled gunpowder and knew it might blow. I thought it might blow any second.”
He grabbed two rookie female cops patrolling the area. Together, they pushed hundreds of people away from the scene as they called for backup, he said.
The Fire Department and bomb squad rushed to the scene.
What they found was stunning: a running SUV packed with three propane tanks, two red 5-gallon plastic jugs of gasoline, a clock, electrical components and a canister of gunpowder, police sources said.”