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Questions remain after IED found, detonated in Nederland

Posted at 6:04 PM, Oct 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-12 20:46:44-04

NEDERLAND, Colo. — The threat is gone, but questions remain as to who left an active explosive device at a Nederland shopping center and why the town was targeted.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI confirmed Wednesday that the device left in the Nederland parking lot was an improvised explosive device that failed to go off.

A security camera from inside a candy shop captured the detonation by the bomb robot of the IED found early Tuesday morning at Nederland’s only shopping center.

Nederland Police Marshal Paul Carrill said Tuesday night, more than 12 hours after police first stumbled across the device, that officers arriving at work Tuesday morning believed a backpack left near police headquarters in Nederland could have been lost property. 

One officer brought the bag inside, then began to look inside. What he found led him to evacuate that office, then the entire Caribou Ridge Shopping Center. 

Law enforcement and Nederland residents are puzzled by Tuesday’s events.

“It was kind of shocking. This little town is just a unique town. It just doesn't make any sense to any of us,” said business owner Dan Harrower.

A joint investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and the Nederland Police Department.