Update: Device an 'Intentional Fake'
KWTX-TV News in Waco reports that what appeared to be an improvised explosive device was an "intentional fake:"
The device, a piece of pipe with wires attached, was intentionally made to look like a pipe bomb but was, in fact, inert and contained no explosive hazard, Carroll Smith, Killeen police spokeswoman said.
Original story (1:38 p.m.): The town of Killeen, Texas – on high-alert after yesterday's shooting at nearby Fort Hood left four dead – evacuated an area north of downtown after police found what they say "appears to be an Improvised Explosive Device."
On Facebook, Killeen Police shared initial details. Police say "there is no known connection between this incident and the recent tragedy on Fort Hood."
An Austin American-Statesman reporter says the item was destroyed by a bomb squad in a small explosion with no injuries. The paper shares further details:
The item, a cellphone taped to a battery pack and two plastic pipes, was placed on the hood of a red truck at Hoover and Gray streets. “I don’t know what it is, I don’t know how it got there,” said Leroy Ferrell, who lives at the home where the truck was parked.
Before the item was destroyed, Statesman reporter Philip Jankowski tweeted this image of the possible IED:
This is the suspicious device taped to a truck at Gray and Hoover in Killeen pic.twitter.com/AlhR3DzD6a
— Phil Jankowski 🍕 (@PhilJankowski) April 3, 2014
