The backpack was equipped with a powerful bomb, positioned to inflict maximum blast damage toward the intended route of Spokanes annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity March through downtown.
The FBI confirmed Tuesday that the Swiss Army brand backpack contained a bomb that could have caused multiple casualties and credited Spokane city employees who noticed the suspicious bag and alerted authorities in time to reroute the parade. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
It definitely was, by all early analysis, a viable device that was very lethal and had the potential to inflict multiple casualties, said Frank Harrill, the special agent in charge of the Spokane FBI office. Clearly, the timing and placement of a device secreted in a backpack with the Martin Luther King parade is not coincidental. We are doing everything humanly possible to identify the individuals or individual who constructed and placed this device.
Bomb capable of lethal impact - Spokesman.com - Jan. 19, 2011But two security sources, who did not want to be named because they were not authorized to discuss the case, told The Spokesman-Review that they received a briefing Tuesday suggesting that the bomb was equipped to detonate by a remote device, such as a car remote or garage door opener. The bomb apparently also had its own shrapnel that could have caused significant injuries to anyone near the blast.