Bomb blast at Madison ramp

[undeterred]

BRIAN D. WEST and ED TRELEVEN

Wisconsin State Journal

A homemade bomb damaged a car at a Downtown parking ramp Saturday afternoon but no one was injured in the explosion, Madison police said. The bomb exploded about 12:25 p.m. Christmas Eve in the Capitol Square South parking ramp at the corner of South Henry and West Main streets, Sgt. John Patterson said.

It was the third time since November that a bomb had been reported at the ramp. Two objects resembling pipe bombs were later determined not to be bombs, police said. Police evacuated the area and were still collecting evidence Saturday night. The blast was heard throughout the Downtown area.

"I just happened to be walking by (when it went off)," said Paul Johnson, of Madison. "My clothes lifted up off my body." Johnson said he was walking by the St. Raphael Cathedral when the bomb went off. "It's not something you see every day," he said. "It freaked me out." Johnson said a man came out of the ramp and told him his car just blew up.

"People were coming out from businesses and their apartments to see what happened," Johnson said. "It was very loud." He said he could see smoke coming from the parking garage. "I was shaking all day," Johnson said.

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=66394&ntpid=2

This could have been a lot worse- what the heck is going on?

[sybylla]

1. My guess is it's a little "show and tell" from a couple of punks who

figured out how to make a pipebomb. Doesn't sound like they were going after anyone in particular. Fortunately no one got hurt. However, I have a suspicion the random bombings won't stop until they get caught.