Police: 2 explosions reported in Pittsburgh not related

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh Police say investigators don’t believe the two reported incidents involving explosives Sunday night are related.

Police were called to two separate incidents Sunday night — one on Penn Avenue in Lawrenceville involving an IED, and another on Dinwiddie Street in the Hill District which police now believe was caused by a firework.

“I was sitting on my couch watching TV and heard a loud boom outside. It sounded like it was right out front,” said Lawrenceville resident Jared Rackley.

That loud boom was captured on Jared Rackley’s Nest Doorbell, and so was a white pickup truck.

“The truck actually showed up within 30 seconds after the explosion and matched the pictures they had put on Twitter earlier,” said Rackley.

The pictures Rackley is talking about are images Pittsburgh Police shared showing a white two-tone older model pickup truck. It’s the truck police believe the IED was thrown out of as it was traveling down Penn Avenue.

The incident happened just after 9 p.m. Sunday.

“The house shook, sort of inside the core. It was so loud. The whole neighborhood shook,” said Lawrenceville resident Catherine Shea.

Resident Tom Shannon said, “We thought it was a transformer that went off last night.”

Police said the only damage done was to a parked car. No one got hurt.

“If somebody happened to be walking by here last night they could’ve gotten injured,” said Shannon.

Penn Avenue was closed between 35th and 40th Street while investigators were processing the scene.

“We walk our dog along here every day. There’s lots of kids in the neighborhood. Just a little too close for comfort,” said Shea.

In the 200 block of Dinwiddie Street in the Hill District just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday, residents there reported feeling their homes shake and some type of odor in the air, but the Bomb Squad with its explosive sniffing K9s didn’t recover any evidence.

That incident is now believe that was caused by an aerial firework.

Police are working with the FBI and ATF to investigate. Police say the investigation is still early and there are no suspects or arrests yet. They’re continuing to review camera footage and follow up on tips from the public.

If you have any information on these incidents or recognize this pickup truck, you’re being asked to call police.

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