News

On 3 April 2024, at approximately 1137 hours local time, the Petaluma Police Department (PPD) began receiving reports of an explosion at Kenilworth Junior High School in Petaluma. PPD officers and firefighters were dispatched to the scene and the school was evacuated. With assistance from a PPD bomb-sniffing dog, police determined that a pyrotechnic device, described as a commercial “quarter-stick” style pyrotechnic, had been functioned inside a boys’ bathroom. No injuries were reported. PPD officers identified two juvenile male students as the alleged perpetrators.

On 26 March 2024, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office and a team from the county’s hazardous materials program found an explosive compound in three containers while processing the scene at a dimethyltryptamine (DMT) lab at a residence on the 800 block of Shasta Daisy Drive in Brentwood. The Walnut Creek Police Department Bomb Squad responded to assist and identified the substance as triacetone triperoxide (TATP).

On 27 March 2024, at approximately 1337 hours local time, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Explosive Disposal Unit technicians conducted a controlled detonation after discovering unspecified IEDs and explosive precursor chemicals (EPCs) at a residence in Port Alberni, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. The search followed the discovery of guns and ammunition at the residence on 25 March. A 48-year-old male suspect was arrested and charged with possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, with more charges expected.
 

On 25 March 2024, at approximately 0250 hours local time, a 47-year-old man allegedly threw an improvised incendiary device (IID), described as a Molotov cocktail, at the window of a Henderson apartment at the 1100 block of Covert Avenue. The IID became entangled in a curtain and did not completely pass through the window, causing a small fire that the victim extinguished. The Evansville Police Department responded and arrested the suspect on arson charges. According to authorities, the suspect had threatened the apartment resident during a verbal altercation prior to the incident.

On 26 March 2024, protestors in Brussels threw improvised incendiary devices (IIDs), described as Molotov cocktails, and eggs at local authorities. Two officers were injured by the IIDs, and authorities responded by firing tear gas and water cannons at the assailants, resulting in one arrest. This is the third time in two months that protestors have engaged with riot police in Brussels against changes to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Similar protests have occurred across EU member nations, including Belgium, Poland, Spain, Italy, and France, over the past few months.