At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a collection of local and federal officials pledged to track down whoever was responsible for the explosive device that seriously injured a Center City resident, who is reportedly gay.
The incident happened around 4 a.m. Nov. 22 at a first-floor apartment at 1808 Pine St. Investigators say Jim Alden, 60, who had just returned home from a trip, opened what he thought was a package of medication and the parcel detonated. The explosion and shrapnel caused injuries to his face, upper body and left hand. At presstime, he was is in stable condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where he underwent surgery Tuesday morning.
Officials declined to identify the victim’s sexual orientation, but neighbors and friends have said Alden is gay and lived in the home with his partner. Officials confirmed another individual was in the apartment during the explosion and was not hurt.
“I’m not going to get into particulars in terms of the identity of the victim; I believe that information is circulating out there,” Sam Rabadi, the special agent in charge at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said at the press conference.
There was a rainbow “Love Trumps Hate” sign in the victim’s window, which prompted speculation that the incident could have been a hate crime.
“We don’t have a motive but we’d be remiss if we didn’t track down every possible lead,” Police Commissioner Richard Ross said, adding, “We’re not placing any particular onus on any sign that you saw.”
When asked whether the victim’s potential involvement in the LGBT community or political positions were being looked at as motives, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan said, “We’re open to all possibilities at this point and we’re not discounting anything. I’m aware of the issues [a reported suggested] and it is certainly part of our investigation and we’re keeping that in the back of our mind. There is no reason to believe that is the motivation but we’re not discounting it either.”
“There’s been no nexus to suggest [the incident] was related to any group or to any ideology,” Ross said.
There is no indication that Alden had been targeted previously.
The device was in a padded envelope, larger than a regular letter envelope, and was wired to explode when the victim opened the flap.
“The preliminary indications are what we term a ‘suspected explosives device’ that detonated inside the house,” Rabadi said. The device is being transported to an ATF lab in Ammendale, Md., for testing. Michael Harpster, the special agent in charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI, declined to comment on the sophistication of the device but said it wasn’t a common setup.
“it’s not something we’d normally see out there; it is a little different,” Harpster said.
It is unclear how the parcel came to arrive at the home, Ross said, noting investigators are combing the area for surveillance video.
“It is a possibility it went through the mail but we do not know that now. It is my belief it may have been placed there but it’s one of those things we have to figure out through the investigation,” he said.
Rabadi said the incident has the full attention of the collaborating agencies.
“I think you can see from the collective response here obviously we will bring every resource to bear to try to figure out what actually happened here. This is not something we see every day in our city. I assure you, no expense will be spared and we will bring every available resource to try to find the person responsible for this violent crime.”