Plano PD: Injured Man Was Trying To Set Off Explosive
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - Plano police believe a man found in the street covered in blood was trying to set off an explosive.
Police say the man, found in a residential neighborhood between Coit Road and Independence Parkway, then made up a story to cover up his intentions.
Police had the residential area sealed off for about 12 hours as they searched for evidence that could solve the mystery. They searched on Parker Road in West Plano, around a gas distribution line, which they say had been tampered with.
The man, whose identity has not been released, is stable at a local hospital but authorities and homeowners want to know what he was trying to blow up.
This afternoon, the FBI and Plano Police's Bomb Squad executed a warrant in connection with the explosion attempt at a home in the 3200 block of Anchor Drive. They were still searching it at 8 p.m.
A neighbor said firefighters began quietly showing up at the home at about 4 p.m. Then police, HAZMAT, bomb squad and the FBI began showing up after.
Tilley released no further information after confirming that the search was connected to the attempt. However, police did say they do not suspect this was a terrorism case.
The man claimed to be jogging when a car hit him and he was badly injured. But his injuries were from embedded shrapnel and residents say the explosion they heard wasn't a car crash.
Police say pieces of shrapnel, from an explosive, were also found in nearby fences.
There are even more reasons why police don't believe the man was hit by a car.
"[Him] not having any injuries to the back of his body and lower extremities, which he would have received if he was received as a pedestrian," Tilley said.
Evidence at the scene and the sound nearby homeowners reported hearing is the only proof of an explosion that investigators believe happened around Midnight.
"We heard a very deep throated loud boom, clearly not a gunshot or a backfire but something explosive," Plano resident Jim Holman told CBS 11 News. "It was very startling. It woke up my kids."
Minutes after the sound woke homeowners, police found a man wandering a nearby street. Officers said there was so much blood at the scene that the fire department's biohazard team was called out to clean it up.
Authorities are investigating whether the man was tampering with the natural gas line in an attempt to cause a bigger explosion.
The FBI has joined the investigation. Agents went door-to-door asking if anyone knew the man, but homeowners who spoke with CBS 11 News said they had no idea who he is or if they were targets of a failed terror plot.
Of the man's intent, Plano resident Casey Barber said, "I think he was up to something."
Officials with Atmos Energy said the gas line in question was never compromised and customers never lost service.
The suspect has serious injuries to his upper body, arms, hands and face and because of his condition police say they can't talk to him or even identify who he is.
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