NJ Train Explosive Plot Thwarted: Ukraine Man Caught With Bombs
A Ukrainian man was arrested in New Jersey after he brought two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on a New Jersey Transit train just days before the Boston marathon bombings, a new report details.
Reports indicate that 27-year-old Mykyta Panasenko had the explosive devices eight days before the Boston Marathon explosions, which killed three people and injured over 200, according to The Jersey Journal.
Officials revealed that Panasenko boarded a train in Hoboken that was destined for Suffern, New York on April 7 while carrying the explosive devices. Police noticed his unusual activities and arrested the man at the scene.
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The investigation into Panasenko's intentions has been conducted by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Port Authority Police Department.
Authorities indicated that the suspect built "two destructive devices, specifically improvised explosive devices (IEDs) constructed from a cylinder containing Pyrodex (black powder)."
The report has yet to be made public, but will be made so after public until his court hearing on April 31, according to the Huffington Post.
Initial reports indicate that Panasenko was born in Kiev, Ukraine and has lived in Jersey City for the last several years. Records also show that he attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick and has been working with gaming company High 5 Games.
Panasenko was "recklessly creating widespread risk of injury or damage to a building which normally contains 25 or more persons by constructing the explosive devices," a source told The Jersey Journal.
Officers from the Jersey City Police Department Bomb Squad raided the house and found more evidence of suspicious activity.
Jersey City Police Deputy Chief Peter Nalbach explained that an anonymous tip led them to Panasenko and a search of his house uncovered more items that could have been used to build more bombs.
"Materials that may have been used to make an explosive device" were recovered at the residence, a law enforcement source added.
