Police, a bomb squad and the FBI responded to an explosion at an apartment building on North Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut, tenants were evacuated and the road was closed.
Firefighters and police responded to 1512 North Ave. at 12:27 a.m. after a report of smoke coming from the third floor and found damage that appeared to come from an explosion in a hallway outside a third-floor apartment, according to police .
Residents of the multi-family home experienced a great scare after the explosion.
Authorities are investigating whether they were explosives, but there is talk of a possible dispute between the tenants.
Most of the residents of the building are Brazilians, they were very cautious when speaking since this is an active investigation. However, when describing the loud noise they could only relate it to a bomb explosive.
“It seems like it was a bomb, it seems like it was a bomb,” says Diana Santos, a resident of the home.
Images show the place where the explosives are supposedly placed. It was approximately 12:20 pm when the Bridgeport Fire Department said they received a call.
Upon entering the home located on North Avenue they found evidence and the bomb squad and the FBI were contacted.
New details from two police sources from our sister network NBC claim that prior to the incident there was a dispute over an alleged wallet theft. As a result of this, investigators believe that a small explosive device was detonated.
Reinaldo Fernandes, who has been in charge of doing repairs and painting work for more than 15 years in the building, assures that what happened is the product of a bomb…
“You have to see it being a bomb… there is no other way to be something because it was very strong,” said Fernandes.
Fernandes says that a mother lives with her 14-year-old daughter in the apartment from which the explosion occurred. The girl was at home while her mother was at her second job.
“The mother came to leave the girl here because she was doing a part-time job last night, when she arrived… about 15 minutes later, there was the accident… fortunately because she was in the room, if she were in the kitchen, or something like that, God I don’t know what would have happened,” said Fernandes.
The police department said they have a person of interest under arrest and identified him as Nelson Diaz.
Díaz now faces charges and was held on $25,000 bail.
Regarding the findings, they are working to determine the nature of the explosives and the intention behind the incident.
Fortunately, there were no injuries, the tenants have already returned to their respective homes. Bridgeport Police assure the public that this incident does not represent any threat to the community.
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call Bridgeport Police Detective Sergeant Luigi Tucciarone at 203 581-52170.
