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LAKE WALES (FOX 13) - The FBI says the devices that caused the Eagle Ridge Mall to close on Sunday night are not what local investigators originally thought. At first they were being called pipe bombs; the feds now say they were actually marine flares disguised in electrical tape.
“Flare or pipe bomb, all of it is dangerous. All of it is scary. All of it can create chaos,” observed Deputy Chief Troy Schulz of the Lake Wales Police Department.
There were about 100 people in the mall when the flares ignited in a service hallway near JCPenny. The devices could have been dropped off closer to shoppers, possibly endangering lives, but weren’t.
The FBI also cleared up something else: The devices apparently did not explode and damage ceiling tiles.
“We believe, at this point, that was done intentionally by the suspect,” Schulz continued.
Investigators are now looking for two persons of interest, both described as Caucasian: One middle-aged with a heavy build and wearing a gray shirt and gray hat; the second between 20 and 40 wearing a dark-colored hat and jacket and a light-colored shirt.
This incident is understandably the talk of the town, and making national news.
Meanwhile, the mall re-opened Monday and shoppers started to come back, but cautiously.
“Be more observant of what’s going on or anything that might look out of the ordinary,” offered shopper Raymond Ray.