Authorities have said that the bombs used in the Boston Marathon bombing earlier this week were largely homemade and built with conventional pressure cookers. Tonight FBI officials released more surprising details on the bombs: they may have been built using parts from radio-controlled toy cars.
ABC News reports that four hobby store owners in the New England area were interviewed by federal agents about DuraTrax R/C cars. Specifically, they're looking into whether 1.25-volt battery packs were used in the devices that killed three people and injured more than 170 people.
This development rattled the owners of the hobby shops. From the story:
There are instructions for creating a bomb using toy car parts online. A similar tactic was reportedly used in the car bombing of a Michigan attorney in 2011.
Greg Faith, owner of Inside Out Hobbies in New Hampshire, said that when he saw the evidence pictures on television, he immediately recognized the batteries and other parts used in radio-controlled cars.
"An item that was first used for pleasure has now been used for devastation. It's just heartbreaking," he said. "He [the bomber] may have come here. it's horrifying."
Federal investigators are searching for the stores where the cars may have been purchased in hopes that this could lead them to the bombing suspects. In addition, ABC says they are analyzing cell phone calls made around the time of the blast to see if the devices were remotely detonated.
Photos credit AP