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FBI leads investigation into Plano explosion: Device triggered gas leak, left man in critical condition
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
PLANO -- The FBI has taken over the investigation of an explosive device which caused a gas leak near the intersection of West Parker Road and Independence Parkway late Sunday night. The explosion also put an unidentified man, who may have been holding the device when it detonated, in a local hospital in critical condition.
A federal search warrant was served Monday night at a residence in the 3200 block of Anchor Drive, several miles away from the site of the explosion. FBI spokeswoman Katherine Chaumont could not confirm what was removed from the house, but KDFW-TV has video of FBI bomb squad members removing something from the residence enclosed in a protective case, then detonating it in rural Kaufman County.
Chaumont said the FBI has jurisdiction because there is reason to believe federal violations may have occurred. She would not go into specifics of what agents were looking for, but said explosives charges are a federal issue.
When officers arrived, they found a man, described as possibly of Asian descent and in his mid-20s to early-40s, lying on the ground along Starlight Trail with severe injuries to his upper torso, arms and face. Tilley said the man told officers he was jogging when he was hit by a car. During the initial investigation into the hit-and-run, officers heard a hissing sound and discovered a gas leak at a nearby regulator.
"The officers contacted Atmos, who came out and shut the gas line off," Tilley said. "The Atmos people told us there had been damage to the valve, which appeared to have been tampered with. They also said there was blood near the regulator, which we discovered led to the area where the man was located."
Tilley noted when officers took a second look at the scene, the man's story began to fall apart.
"All of the injuries were to his upper body, which is not consistent with what he was telling us as far as being hit by a car," he said. "With a person who is hit by a car, you expect the person to be thrown and have road rash and injuries to the legs and back. He didn't have any of that."
The Plano PD bomb squad was called to the scene Sunday night, a move which automatically led to the FBI being alerted. Officers determined there were no explosives remaining at the scene, but did find shrapnel in a wooden fence surrounding the regulator as well as other evidence of an explosion. Tilley said bomb investigators determined the explosion caused the gas leak, but are not sure what caused the explosion.
The injured man has not been identified and no charges have been filed. Neither the FBI nor Plano PD has released any information about a possible motive, or what type of explosive device was detonated.
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