For a city where breaking news spreads like wildfire it’s a bit disconcerting that the ONE AND ONLY source I have on these photos of the NYPD bomb squad is a friend of mine from FSU. The photos below (the only mentions on Twitter so far are me and him tweeting about it) show the NYPD Bomb Unit dismantling an doomsday looking item outside of the police precinct on 30th Street between 6th and 7th avenues.
My unnamed friend is currently locked in his office across the street and is shitting his pants watching the bomb technicians dismantle a device. the people working in his building were told they could not leave the building, the entire block was shut down while the bomb squad was called in, fire trucks were everywhere, and there was NO INFORMATION WHATSOEVER as to whether this was just a drill because the Pope is coming tomorrow or if we were all in danger of getting blown up. I for one do NOT look forward to the Pope’s arrival because I expect all New Yorkers will be dealing with scenarios like this for the next half week.
Here are the photos of what it looks like when the NYPD Bomb Unit is called in to dismantle a potential bomb:
Street gets shut down:
UPDATE 1: reports are now beginning to circulate that the grenade found by the NYPD bomb squad was discovered to be inert.
Twitter is now alive with tweets of ‘The NYPD was targeted by a REAL BOMB’
Holy sh*t, didn’t realize we were all that close to getting blown up today.
Update 1: it appears that the grenade was inert:
#Nypd targeted by grenade. Bomb squad on scene 30th st. & 7th ave. Grenade found in bag at police traffic division. pic.twitter.com/iKAXo3nwjl
— Dean Meminger (@DeanMeminger) September 23, 2015
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Update: grenade turns out 2B inert. Was in a bag found by a pedestrian and taken to the #nypd traffic building. Bomb squad says all clear.
— Dean Meminger (@DeanMeminger) September 23, 2015
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Update 2: It is now being reporting that the grenade was an inert grenade found in a backpack in front of the 23rd Police Precinct (the NYPD precinct on 30th street), where the bomb squad was called in to check it in and shut down the street.
“It was an inert grenade,” said NYPD Inspector Scott Hanover. “The kind you can buy in army stores. Somebody found it and was nice enough to bring it over here.” — this update comes by way of DNA Info