Explosive materials discovered after blast that displaced Texas families, police say
A Texas man was arrested after an blast rocked a residential area, and some residents have remained displaced for nearly two days as local and federal authorities continue their investigation.
The Monday afternoon explosion in Amarillo forced evacuations in the neighborhood after firefighters discovered “explosive-making material” at the scene.
A bomb squad found components to build explosives in a home, the backyard and an alley, police said.
Erfan Salmanzadeh, 32, was detained and charged Tuesday with possession of components of explosives, a third-degree felony. He was still in jail Wednesday on $1 million bond.
Since the explosion, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and local authorities have been at the scene “day and night working thoroughly to make sure this area is safe,” Amarillo police said, but there was “no timeline” for reopening as of Wednesday.
Fourteen homes in the block of the explosion had to be evacuated and only two families have returned, but they’re sheltering in place, KAMR reported.
Jake Maldonaldo, who was evacuated, told KAMR he was surprised his neighbor was arrested.
“I didn’t know the guy but I’ve seen the guy for as long as I’ve lived here,” Maldonaldo told the news outlet. “And I mean yeah, there’s little like, ‘Hey, hello,’ kind of stuff. Other than that, though, like really never talked to the guy.”
Amarillo is a city of about 200,000 people in the Texas Panhandle.
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