Dale Wyatt, the man who found a body near Nichols Middle School in Evanston, talks to residents and members of the media on Tuesday morning.
Posted on 09/14/2010 2:47:00 PM PDT by STARWISE
Evanston police are investigating an early morning explosion that left one man dead Tuesday and led to the evacuation of residents and the closure of a middle school.
Police secured the area around the Nichols Middle School and Fitzsimmons Park, where the decapitated body of an unidentified male and an explosive device were found shortly before 6 a.m.
At Tuesday afternoon news conference, Evanston Police Commander Tom Guenther said authorities were taking the explosion “extremely seriously’’ but did not yet understand what the bomber’s intentions were.
Police refused to identify the man who died and said they had not determined a motive yet in the incident. Police said it was too early to determine whether the incident was as suicide or not.
They also refused to say whether the man was decapitated — despite reports from eye witnesses who saw his body.
Dale Wyatt, who lives near the park, was walking his dog when he discovered the body of a man that he estimated was between the ages of 25 and 30.
He said the man’s body was lying on a walkway close to the park’s tennis courts.
“At first I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a mannequin I found,’’ Wyatt said.
“He had no head, no nothing above the neck.’’
The man’s body had no burn marks but there was a strong smell of gunpowder, he said.
Next to the man was a black container that looked like a discarded container of antifreeze, he said.
Authorities searched a unit in a nearby apartment building where the man apparently lived.
Guenther said FBI forensics experts will examine the man’s computer for clues.
“No suicide note was found,’’ he said.
The dead man was “known’’ to another Illinois police agency, Guenther said, which is now assisting the investigation. He declined to say what had brought the dead man to earlier police attention.
Nichols Middle School, 800 Greenleaf St., was closed for the day and will likely remain shut Wednesday, police said.
Guenther said police received a call about 3:56 a.m., from residents who reported hearing a large explosion. Officers checked out the area, he said, but initially found nothing.
“The exact location of the explosion from citizen reports wasn’t determined, it was very general,’’ he said.
At about 5:48 a.m., Wyatt alerted police after he found the body and saw what looked like an explosive device next to it.
Evanston police responded and determined that “it could be an explosive device’’ and moved to secure the area, Guenther said.
He said officers then went door to door to set up a perimeter and also contacted the Cook County Bomb Squad, which detonated the device found at the scene around 9:30 a.m.
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 said in a written statement that “at this time, there is no indication that it is school-related.’’
Evanston Ald. Donald Wilson said the victim was not of school age.
John Shelley, a neighbor who lives across from the school, said he was dozing off in front of the TV around 4 a.m. when he heard a loud explosion.
Wyatt said he was asleep around 4 a.m. when his dog Buddha “kept just whimpering and whining. After about a half hour I said ‘OK, fine, I’ll take you outside, buddy.’ ’’
He said they were walking near the fence of the park when something caught his dog's nose.
“I thought it was a rabbit or something,’’ Wyatt said.
Huh? What's the minimum IQ to join the force in Evanston?
If it was suicide, why were there two bombs, one unexploded until the bomb squad got there? Why 4 in the morning with no audience and no potential homicide victims around?
It's obviously a work accident
, and the focus of the investigation should be to determine exactly what the job
was and whether there are any co-workers
running around.
Kurgan: I know his name.
Queen: Here we are. Masters of the universe.....
They will have to check the roofs & trees for the missing head.
His head could be up in a tree and miles away!
That’s their tactic? There’s no bomb strapped to the body ?
Must be dense .. having a hard time figuring
out how the things they found on the ground
caused the beheading.
If, in fact, the legs were folded behind the
body, sounds like he was kneeling when it
happened.
It’s all sick ..
WHAT HAPPEN?
Where’s Lady Gaga’s designer?
In the case of the pizza guy, it was reported that he was working with others to rob the bank and their plans went wrong. I believe the others were caught and convicted.
The guy is “not the droid you are looking for”.
Dale Wyatt, the man who found a body near Nichols Middle School in Evanston, talks to residents and members of the media on Tuesday morning.
Thank you for the ping Starwise.
Updates appreciated.
My guess...
Just not one of the ways I would want to go either. Just in case there is a nanosecond you do feel it.
Additional link:
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/09/witness-decapitated-body-found-near-evanston-school.html
“Bomb mystery: Cops search for clues in man’s death”
September 14, 2010 3:44 PM | 20 Comments | UPDATED STORY
SNIPPET: “Police were combing through an Evanston apartment and checking computer files, looking for answers after a man was killed by an explosive device near an Evanston middle school this morning.
The decapitated body was found in a field next to Nichols Middle School, 800 Greenleaf St. by a man walking his dog. Police cleared the area, and ordered some residents out of their homes, after a pipe bomb was found next to the body.”
“And then there was the guy who had a backpack with explosives who “killed himself” outside a packed college football stadium.”
****
That was up by the University of Oklahoma football stadium. IIRC, the guy had gone off the deep end as a Muzzie convert. Of course, the bombing had nothing to do with the religion of pieces or terrorism because the Dept. of Hopey Dopey Changey Security said so. After all, most people commit suicide by strapping bombs to themselves and heading to crowds. [rolls eyes]
Yup and I think FReepers were the only ones who even talked about him.
Leni
He probably sneezed.
Is that as good as your heart in San Francisco ??
LOL ..
Leni
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