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Authorities probe blast at terrorist ‘training site’ near Gouldsboro
Pocono Record ^

Posted on 08/31/2007 5:24:41 AM PDT by angcat

Residents south of Gouldsboro are used to the sound of gunfire from the public shooting range on State Game Lands 127. So when residents there say there was a big explosion and automatic gunfire, there’s a good chance they’re not crying wolf.

The shooting range was used earlier this year by six men now dubbed the Fort Dix Six for a half-baked terrorism plot they are accused of concocting, involving an attack on that New Jersey military base.

The incident occurred Wednesday, Aug. 15. The remains of a small crater, apparently from the explosion, are still visible but aren’t much to look at.

There’s an active investigation, too, but that’s also not very visible.

The explosion occurred at 5:47 a.m. and was loud enough to awaken residents who live near the shooting range. Numerous residents called 911. Because State Game Lands is near the Lackawanna County border, some of the 911 calls went to the State Police in Dunmore.

One of the 911 callers described what she heard. “There was a series of single shots that were very loud — louder than a normal gun. I’ve lived in that area for 22 years and it was nothing like any gunfire I have ever heard before.

“Then there was a huge explosion followed by more shots that sounded like automatic machine gun fire. I called my brother-in-law and asked him if we should do anything and he said to call the cops. So I did.

“I dialed 911 and went through many transfers to Dunmore and then Swiftwater. Then Pocono Mountain Regional Police called me back at 6:10 a.m. and said they would come up, but I knew by the time they drove all the way up here, the people would be gone.”

The caller estimated there was shooting for about 20 to 25 minutes.

She said she spoke with neighbors about the incident. “People as far away as Clifton Beach Road were awakened by the explosion,” she said.

When asked if she thought someone had detonated an M-80, the caller responded that her son also heard the explosion. “He said it didn’t sound like a quarter stick of dynamite. He thought it sounded like a whole stick of dynamite or something else entirely. I thought it was more serious than someone setting off an M-80.”

The Pocono Record learned of the incident on Sunday from a Monroe County resident who frequents the shooting range. On Monday, Pocono Mountain Regional Police provided a police report of the incident. A police officer indicated the investigation had been turned over to the FBI.

State Game Lands are under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. WCO Mark Rutkowski said that “some of the residents in the area called the Game Commission before 6 a.m. but our dispatchers answer the phone only from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.” Subsequently, those individuals called 911.

“I went to the range to collect evidence and observed a hole in the ground that was approximately 2 feet in diameter and a few inches deep,” Rutkowski said.

He indicated that state police in Hazleton were handling the investigation of the scene to determine what kind of explosive caused the hole in the ground.

On Thursday, the Intelligence Unit at Hazleton confirmed the investigation and said the state police lab in Hersey is analyzing the explosive residue.

UPDATE:

Note: Includes map.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1889577/posts

“FBI Has ‘Pretty Good Leads’ In Threats”
Bell South ^ | 8-31-1007 | Joe Milicia

Posted on 08/31/2007 2:10:28 PM PDT by blam

FBI Has ‘Pretty Good Leads’ in Threats

Published: 8/31/07, 4:47 PM EDT
By JOE MILICIA

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “CLEVELAND (AP) - The FBI is looking overseas for suspects who have phoned bomb threats to more than 24 grocery stores, banks and discount stores in 15 states, including at least six new cases Friday in Ohio.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “”We believe these are all tied into the same individual or group of individuals that are doing this all over the United States,” said FBI special agent Scott Wilson in Cleveland.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1875105/posts?page=2070#2070

http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/426

“Indicted USF Student has Terror Past in Egypt”

by IPT
IPT News
August 31, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Two Egyptian students enrolled at the University of South Florida have been indicted for carrying explosive materials across states lines. One of the defendants also is charged with teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons.

Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, an engineering graduate student and teaching assistant at the Tampa-based university, faces terrorism charges for teaching and demonstrating how to use the explosives.

According to officials familiar with the case, Mohamed has been arrested previously in Egypt on terrorism-related charges. He is said to have produced an Internet video showing how to build a remote-controlled car bomb.

Mohamed and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, also an engineering student, were stopped for speeding Aug. 4 in Goose Creek, S.C., where they have been held on state charges. Police found pipe bombs in their car near a Navy base in South Carolina where enemy combatants have been held. They have been held in a South Carolina jail while the FBI continued to investigate whether there was a terrorism link.

The men reportedly made police officer suspicious during a traffic stop when one of them tried to quickly put away a laptop computer. The computer was seized.

Mohamed faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the count of demonstrating how to make and use an explosive device. He and Megahed both face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of transporting explosives across state lines without permits.

Their defense attorney, Andy Savage, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.”