Man In Florida Arrested In Connection With Mail Bombs
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NEW CASTLE, Del. (CBS) - A nationwide manhunt is intensifying after two suspicious packages addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden were found at separate postal facilities in Delaware on Thursday. The FBI says the packages are consistent with the ones sent to other leading Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
The Delaware State Police, New Castle County Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and FBI Special Agents first responded to the United States Postal Facility located at 147 Quigley Boulevard in New Castle, just before 6 a.m. Thursday.
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The facility was evacuated while authorities investigated. Normal operations have since resumed.
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The second suspicious package was found at a post office on the 1500 block of Lancaster Avenue in Wilmington, Thursday morning.
A Wilmington post office employee spotted the suspicious package on Thursday morning in a hamper, and alerted the supervisor. The building was then evacuated and the bomb squad was notified. Police sent the bomb robot, bomb-sniffing dogs and a bomb technician in a heavy protective suit.
The return address has a return address of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida -- like the other packages on Wednesday. It was sent with stamps, not metered, and a post-it note indicates it did not have enough postage.
The contents of the package are not yet known.
"The building is all clear. We've completed our final cursory searches, secondary search of the building, the building is clear," said Wilmington Police Sgt. Thomas Ragonese.
On Wednesday, authorities were at Biden's home in Greenville, Delaware following the suspicious packages sent to prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Investigators said they did a sweep of the home and found no suspicious packages. New Castle County Police searched the property and checked the surrounding area.
Biden also owns a home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It wasn't immediately known if that home was searched, as well.
Sen. Chris Coons, who is friends with Biden, says he's personally discouraged about the suspected terrorist activity through the mail.
"That he's a personal target of one of these intended attacks is very disheartening because he's one of the most prominent, most visible, most compelling Democrats in the country at this point," said Coons.
Coons added that his staff has been warned about possible dangers.
"The FBI has briefed my staff here in Wilmington today about safe mail-handling practices, now to be alert for suspicious packages, but frankly this is a matter of the heart," said Coons. "The only way to heal this is to have a lower temperature in American politics."
No one was injured in these incidents.
