Pipe bombs in Littleton Colorado

 “FBI hunts suspected domestic terrorist after bomb found on Columbine anniversary

In grim echo of school shootings, two propane tanks and a pipe bomb are found in a Colo. mall

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 4/21/2011 12:24:00 AM ET

LITTLETON, Colo. — The FBI says it has identified a person of interest after a pipe bomb and two propane tanks were found at a suburban Denver mall following a fire Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the Columbine massacre.

The FBI is investigating the incident as a case of domestic terrorism, NBC station KUSA reported.

The FBI released two surveillance pictures of the person of interest Wednesday night.

The man in the picture is white with graying hair, KUSA reported. He has a silver mustache and was wearing a dark colored cap with a light-colored logo on the front. He was also wearing a gray and white horizontally striped shirt, a dark jacket with silver buttons, blue jeans and dark colored shoes. Video surveillance recordings showed a bag-toting man enter a private-access mall corridor.

Evidence found at the scene has been traced back to a Target store across the street from the mall, KUSA said. Investigators were interviewing witnesses at the Target.

About 300 mall employees and up to 10,000 shoppers were evacuated from the Southwest Plaza Mall in Littleton after the fire, which started around noon. No one was injured and the bomb and tanks didn't explode, NBC station KUSA reported.

However, one official called the location and timing of the incident "disturbing." The mall is about two miles from Columbine High School, where two student gunmen killed 13 people and themselves on April 20, 1999. Unexploded pipe bombs and a propane tank with explosives attached were found in the school after the shootings.

"The fact that has happened on April 20, 12 years later, near the school and with similar devices is very disturbing," Jefferson County sheriff's spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said. "The comparison between what happened there [Columbine] 12 years ago and having something here today, it's hard to ignore. So it's something that we'll certainly look at. But it's devastating that someone would, anyone would decide today's the day to do anything like this at all."

Kelley told KUSA that the propane tanks "seemed to be at the heart of the fire, which started about 11:52 a.m. and was contained within seven minutes. "The propane tanks could have been devastating if they worked."

The pipe bomb was found around 5 p.m., KUSA said. The bomb squad was going to detonate it, but it fell apart when investigators picked it up.

Firefighters told KUSA that there was no damage from the fire, but one security guard was treated for smoke inhalation.

Investigators stayed on the scene late into Wednesday night. The Mall was not expected to reopen until Thursday, the Denver Post reported.

Through the years, students across the country have been accused of threats and incidents modeled after Columbine.

The FBI is investigating the incident as a case of domestic terrorism, KUSA said. Any suspect arrested in connection with the case will face federal charges.

About 25 schools were on lockout, with only one door open, as a precaution, meaning access was restricted, according to The Denver Post. Classes had been canceled at Columbine High School in remembrance of those killed in the shootings.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wounded several students and killed 12 and one teacher before shooting themselves.”

“The City of Littleton's history dates back to the 1859 Pike's Peak Gold Rush, which brought not only gold seekers, but merchants and farmers to the community. Richard Sullivan Little was an engineer from New Hampshire that made his way out west to work on irrigation systems. Little quickly fell in love with the area that is present day Littleton and brought his wife Angeline out from the East in 1862. The Littles, along with many neighbors, built the Rough and Ready Flour Mill in 1867, which provided a solid economic base in the community. By 1890, the community had grown to 245 people and the residents voted to incorporate the Town of Littleton.[7]

Littleton became widely known in 1999 when the Columbine High School massacre occurred at nearby Columbine High School, which the news media erroneously reported as being located in the city. The school is actually located in Columbine, an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, yet in a ZIP code associated primarily with Littleton. The school is included in the Jefferson County school system, and not one of the Littleton Public Schools.”