Possible Bombs Found off Valley Road

Local and federal law enforcement are looking for a “person of interest” in connection with three pipe bombs that were discovered in a residence in the 1800 block of Saddle Drive just off Valley Road in Warrington Township Wednesday afternoon.

The man authorities are looking for is a 50-something-year-old man, said by neighbors to be named “John.” The man is wanted for questioning by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in connection with three possible explosive devices that were found in the home he lived in with an elderly woman, possibly his mother, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sam Rabadi said Wednesday evening. Rabadi would not release more information on the man.

Warrington police were called by the elderly homeowner at around 4 p.m. She told investigators she came home after several days of being away to discover a pipe bomb like device on the kitchen counter, Rabadi said. The bomb squad later discovered another two devices in different parts of the two-story house.

Arriving police evacuated more than a dozen homes in the Palomino Farms community and called for the Philadelphia Police Department bomb squad and the ATF, according to Warrington Police Lt. Joe Knox.

The bombs were rendered harmless by Philadelphia police at the scene using small explosives, the ATF agent said. It is not clear yet whether the devices were live or inert.

What remains of the devices was taken from the scene by federal agents and will be analysed by investigators in Washington, D.C., Rabadi told reporters. Several rifles and brown evidence bags were spotted being taken from the home by police.

The evacuated residents were out of their homes for about two hours and were sent to the nearby St. Robert Bellarmine Church until the all-clear was given.

Residents said emergency officials rushed to their front doors and told them to “leave immediately due to a threat.”

Lynn Donahue, who lives just doors away from the home where the bombs were found, called the experience “scary.”

Donahue, who was at work just up the road, was concerned about evacuating her wheelchair-bound husband and rushed home to make sure he was away from the danger.

Investigators remained on the scene at 7:30 p.m.

Fire crews from Hartsville, Warrington and Warminster were on-scene. Ambulance crews from Warrington Community Ambulance Corps were also present.