Police believe Arlington bombing was effort to kill

Published 11:24 pm Monday, February 11, 2008

ARLINGTON — Someone used a powerful homemade bomb Saturday in what police believe was an attempt at killing an Arlington man.

No one was injured but the concussion from the bomb was felt blocks away, city spokeswoman Kristin Banfield said Monday.

The bomb, planted outside the man’s bedroom window, went off around 6:30 p.m. in a mobile home park in the 6200 block of 188th Street NE, she said. It blew a hole in the side of the mobile home, broke windows and sprayed debris into his bedroom.

Arlington firefighters felt the blast a couple of blocks away at their station, she said.

The man who lives in the mobile home was watching TV in the next room, Banfield said. He was uninjured.

“If he had been in that bed asleep, he likely would not be here,” she said. “There’s shrapnel in the bedroom everywhere.”

The bomb appears to have been made in a small container filled with black powder, Banfield said.

Arlington police detectives spent Monday following clues.

“We have some active leads and working theories,” Banfield said.

Arlington police are working with the Snohomish County Fire Marshal and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

“We’re really asking for the public’s help,” she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Arlington police at 360-403-3400.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.