Explosion at Northwest DC home under investigation after device detonates at front door
ATF investigating explosion that damaged DC home
A suspected explosive device caused an explosion at a D.C. home, the second blast at the home within a month.
WASHINGTON - A device detonated at the front door of a Northwest D.C. home late Tuesday, causing an explosion that prompted an investigation by federal and local authorities.
It was the second such blast reported at the home in less than a month, officials said.
What we know:
Around 11 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the 500 block of Kenyon Street after reports of an explosion. Emergency responders arrived to find structural damage to the property. Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution. No injuries were reported.
The D.C. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit was deployed to inspect the scene and determined that no hazardous materials were present.
Surveillance footage captured what investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) believe was an explosive device detonating at the entrance. The ATF has taken the lead on the investigation.
A woman who lives in the home with her six children said the family was upstairs when the blast occurred.
She declined to appear on camera, but recounted how the explosion shook the house and sounded like a bomb.
What they're saying:
"When we came down, we seen nothing but glass everywhere and my door hanging off the hinges," she told FOX 5.
Investigators confirmed that the device appears to have been deliberately left at the front door. Officials have not yet determined the exact type of device used, who placed it or the motive behind the incident.
Authorities are actively working to determine whether the family was intentionally targeted.
According to the resident, a similar incident occurred three weeks earlier, in late October, when another explosion blew out the glass of her front window.
"Right now, I don’t feel safe in this home," she said. "I lived here three years. I never had this problem. This is the first time I feel my safety is being jeopardized and that I can’t trust too many people because I don’t know what's going on and who’s doing it."
She confirmed the family has moved out for now.
"Whatever it is, a bomb, firecrackers, whatever they’re using, I’m not sure, but they did it the first time, they did it a second, I don’t want it to be a third, so, we’re moving," she told FOX 5.
The ATF's investigation remains in its early stages as detectives and federal agents continue to follow active leads.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Metropolitan Police Department.