Brian Cole Jr. is identified by news outlets as the D.C. pipe bomb suspect.
The FBI cites surveillance footage, clothing details, and continues seeking public tips.“These pipe bombs were viable devices that could have been detonated,” said FBI’s D’Antuono.
Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old man from Woodbridge, Virginia, has been named by top news networks, from CNN to NBC News, as the suspect in the highly publicized Washington D.C. pipe bomb case.
NBC News reached out to Cole’s family members seeking comment, and a family member made the first brief comment after the arrest, indicating that he had spoken with the FBI.
The suspect’s step-grandfather, Earl Donnette, “said in a brief phone call to NBC News that he spoke with the FBI about his step-grandson,” the network reported. However, Donnette declined to make additional comment, NBC News reported, and Brian Cole Sr., Cole’s dad, declined to make any comment at all, NBC News reported.
https://www.mensjournal.com/news/brian-coles-family-makes-brief-1st-statement-after-pipe-bomb-arrest
Calls to relatives of Cole listed in public records were not immediately returned, but neighbors in the suburban cul-de-sac described a young man who shunned interaction and doted on a pet chihuahua.
He has a dog that he loves,” she added. “He walks every day, twice a day, to 7-11 with his dog and he wears his headphones.”
“He seemed very quiet. He would never make eye contact. Almost like he just didn’t see you,” added a second neighbor, a man who noted that Cole would “wear shorts all winter long, and red Crocs.”
“I’m pretty shocked,” said this neighbor, who lived in the area for seven years. “This is a very uncommonly friendly and neighborly place to live.”