Investigation is underway after two bombs went off at New Mexico churches. New Mexico State Police, FBI officials, and Department of Homeland Security personnel conducting the investigation remain uncertain if the bombs are part of a terrorist attack, but are almost certain the two explosions are linked.
The two bombs went off within 20 minutes of each other, one at Holy Cross Catholic Church and one at Calvary Baptist church, both in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
No parishioners were injured in either explosion, but officials say this was merely coincidental since the bombs detonated during times when church-goers were not near enough to be injured.
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez said it was clear the bombs were "meant to cause harm.” Governor Martinez also proclaimed that "Whoever did this will feel the full pressure of the law. If your intention was to bring fear to those who worship, you have failed."
Holy Cross Catholic church parishioner John Anderson recounted what took place last Sunday: "I was right in the middle of saying the words 'take and eat, this is my body' and there was a Pow! I mean, I knew it had to be more than a gunshot," he told the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Anderson and other Holy Cross parishioners were at the front of the church participating in communion when the bomb went off in a trash can near the entryway of the church.
At Calvary Baptist, church-goer Dennis Llewellyn, a former special forces member with the Marines, confirmed that the loud explosion that went off in the administrative entrance to the church was indeed a bomb: "It was a real bomb, I saw all the parts.”
During a rally in the Las Cruces area, church leaders urged church-goers to be cautious of suspicious activity and to maintain a strong sense of community.
Publication date: August 3, 2015