‘Pieces of mailbox everywhere’: Pipe bomb explodes in family’s mailbox

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA/Gray News) - A family in Alabama got a scary delivery when their mailbox was blown up early Saturday morning.

A handmade explosive launched fragments everywhere in surveillance video that captured the whole event.

WALA reports the unnamed family that lives in Tillmans Corner is on a mission to find the culprit.

In the video, a vehicle can be seen easing its way to the mailbox, planting an explosive and immediately driving away.

One of the residents of the home said the explosion around 1:15 a.m. woke them from sleep.

“We are used to hearing 18-wheeler tires blow up all the time on the interstate,” she said. “So I got up, checked the cameras, but I didn’t see anything. When I went back and reviewed our cameras, a couple of young boys, it looked like, put a homemade pipe bomb in our mailbox, lit it on fire, and it exploded. It is a federal offense.”

The explosion occurred at Quail Run in Tillmans Corner.

“This is a huge safety concern because we have a child in our house. People across the street have children. There are children all in this neighborhood, and I don’t want stuff like that in this neighborhood,” the resident said.

According to the family, the explosion sent the debris flying. Some debris even ended up on their next door neighbor’s porch.

“It went a long range, like two and three yards down both sides, across the street. There were pieces of mailbox everywhere,” the family member said.

After gathering the evidence and picking up the shards, the family said they believe the explosive was a homemade pipe bomb.

“It was made out of PVC pipe, mortars like you would shoot off in the canons of fireworks. You could tell it was glued together with some kind of glue, probably had duck tape around it,” the resident said. “Whatever it was, it was big.”

The family said their Christmas lights were broken into “millions of pieces,” mail in the mailbox was burned up, and part of their front yard even caught fire for a moment.

The victims said they are unaware of who the suspects are and why they targeted their mailbox.

“Be aware of your surroundings. Watch your children at all times,” the resident said. “I mean, I know this is the world we live in, but if we can do anything to stop these people from committing crimes like this that is one day going to end up injuring or hurting or killing anyone, I’m all for it.”

The family said they filed a police report, and an investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the suspects are urged to contact the Mobile Police Department.

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