WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Device Found At Erwinville Baptist Church Was A Pipe Bomb

Device Found At Erwinville Baptist Church Was A Pipe Bomb

9NEWS is told the device found on the steps of a baptist church in Erwinville was indeed a pipe bomb.  Now, the F.B.I wants to know who put it there. 

It happened Sunday night in front of Erwinville Baptist Church, an all-white congregation in West Baton Rouge Parish. Officials say an off-duty police officer, who's also a member of the church discovered the bomb around five o'clock Sunday just before evening services.

State Police and the F.B.I used a bomb robot to pick up the device and drop it into a pit across the street.  It was covered with sandbags and detonated.

Detectives say the softball-sized bomb was packed with enough power to cause serious damage to the congregation worshipping inside.

The F.B.I. evidence response team spent Monday canvassing the area for pieces of the detonated bomb.

It will be put back together at a lab in Virginia to determine how the device was to detonate.

So far, police say they have no leads or a motive. If you have any information please call Crime Stoppers at 344-STOP.