Explosion outside Upper East Side Starbucks (Explosive Device) [View All]

Source: ABC News

NEW YORK (WABC)

An explosive device blew out the windows of a Starbucks coffee shop in a blast that rocked an Upper East Side neighborhood. The loud blast was heard at the intersection of Third Avenue and East 92nd Street just before 4 a.m. The explosion took place on 92nd and 3rd avenue. Police are still looking for the person who left the device outside of the Starbucks.

The time of day echoed that of a pattern of unsolved early morning blasts that have occurred outside the British Consulate, the Mexican Consulate and the Armed Forces recruiting booth in Times Square over the past two years. "The similarity is the time. The Mexican consulate, the British consulate, the Times Square bombing event at the recruiting station, we have this event. They all happened between 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. that's the immediate similarity we are looking at," said Commissioner Ray Kelly.

The explosion took place on a bench outside of the store. The bomb squad, OEM, along with the FDNY and NYPD are investigating.In the earlier cases witnesses and surveillance camera footage showed a suspect escaping on a bicycle. In today's incident, no such information was immediately available but police were canvassing the neighborhood and collecting and reviewing security camera tapes. "We will be checking cameras in the area. Right now there are no reports of anyone on a bicycle," Kelly said.........

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The amount of explosive used today was thought to be the equivalent of two or more such fireworks. While the targets in the past blasts suggested a possible political motive to the attacks, the reason for today's attack was unclear.

Read more: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6830051

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Later in article it says motive unknown, Starbucks has been targeted in other cities before.