Post Gazette – by Hallie Lauer
Authorities are searching for a white pickup truck after two explosions in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville and Hill District neighborhoods Sunday night shook some residents’ homes and blew up a car.
City police said an improvised explosive device or IED detonated in the 3600 block of Penn Avenue in Lower Lawrenceville shortly after 9 p.m. About 90 minutes later, a second explosion was reported in the 200 block of Dinwiddie Street in the Hill District.
No one was injured in the first explosion; police did not report any injuries and damages from the second explosion.
In the initial blast, police said an IED was thrown from a moving vehicle and struck a parked car. The bomb was under the parked car when it detonated.
Detectives are searching for a white pickup truck in connection with that explosion.
Police had blocked off Penn Avenue from 35th to 40th streets — including side streets — while the Bomb Squad investigated.
One witness described the explosion as “not much, just a loud boom around 8:50, then sirens.”
ALERT:
Please avoid Penn Avenue between 35th St. and 40th St. as the Fire Investigation Unit and the Bomb Squad investigate an incendiary device thrown from a moving vehicle.
A parked car was damaged. There were no injuries.
The investigation is ongoing. pic.twitter.com/v9tfH6kpMi
— Pittsburgh Police (@PghPolice) January 4, 2021
Police received a call for the second blast around 10:30 p.m. Some Hill District residents said they felt their homes shake and smelled an odor in the air.
The Bomb Squad responded with explosives sniffing dogs, but no evidence was recovered. Authorities were still reviewing video footage from the Dinwiddie Street explosion.
The FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding the pickup truck and the explosions to contact the Bureau of Police headquarters at 412-323-7800.
First Published January 3, 2021, 7:35pm