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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 12 august 2022
Cause sought for Indiana house explosion that killed 3

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Au- Evansville authorities have
thorities worked Thursday to declined to speculate
determine the cause of a whether natural gas or an-
house explosion in a south- other issue is responsible for
ern Indiana neighborhood the explosion.
that killed three people Evansville is along Indiana's
and left another person border with Kentucky. The
hospitalized. blast left debris that in-
The explosion Wednes- cluded wooden boards,
day afternoon in Evans- window glass and insula-
ville damaged 39 homes. tion strewn over a 100-foot
Crews on Thursday com- (30-meter) radius.
pleted a secondary search CenterPoint Energy, the
of buildings that were left local gas utility, was last
unstable by the explosion called to the home in Jan-
and no more victims were uary 2018, according to
found, Fire Chief Mike Con- Connelly.
nelly told reporters. The utility said it was work-
"It's a huge relief, for ev- ing with fire officials and
erybody," the chief said of other agencies as the in-
the results of the secondary vestigation continues.
search. It was the second house
Eleven of the damaged explosion in the area in just
homes were uninhabitable Emergency personnel search the debris, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, in Evansville, Ind., as authorities over five years. A June 27,
and will have to be demol- work to determine the cause of a house explosion that killed three people and left another person 2017, explosion killed two
hospitalized. The explosion the day before damaged 39 homes.
ished, Connelly said, and Associated Press people and injured three
finding a cause is expected others.
to be a "very tedious pro- been determined, the of- gators on-site in Evansville Dabkowski said. Wednesday's explosion also
cess — and lengthy." fice said. who were helping with the "When we come to these brought to mind a massive
The Vanderburgh County Suzanne Dabkowski, a Bu- investigation. types of events we've either blast in 2012 that destroyed
Coroner's Office identified reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, The ATF's involvement does been asked in by the local or damaged more than 80
the victims as a married Firearms and Explosives, not mean there is an inten- fire officials or the state fire homes in Indianapolis and
couple, 43-year-old Charles spokeswoman, said the tional or illegal act behind marshal for our agents who killed two people. A man
Hite and 37-year-old Mar- agency can't speak to them, she added. Typically, have had additional train- was convicted of tamper-
tina Hite, and 29-year-old any possible causes of the the agency gets involved ing," she said. "We can be ing with a natural gas line
neighbor Jessica Teague. explosion. Dabkowski said in local cases when its help extra hands to help them. at his then-girlfriend's home
The cause and manner of the ATF has explosive spe- is requested or if there is Most places aren't used to in an attempt to commit in-
their deaths have not yet cialists and firearms investi- some federal connection, seeing a scene of this size." surance fraud.q

Armed man tries to breach FBI office, is injured in standoff

CINCINNATI (AP) — An pursued him, said Lt. Na- known injuries,” but no one nati. State highway workers against federal agents. FBI
armed man decked out in than Dennis, a Ohio State else was hurt, the patrol blocked off roads leading Director Christopher Wray
body armor tried to breach Highway Patrol spokesper- said. to the scene as a helicop- denounced the threats as
a security screening area at son. The standoff remained in ter flew over the area. he visited another FBI office
an FBI field office Thursday, The suspect left the inter- progress as of midafter- Officials in Ohio have in Nebraska on Wednes-
then fled and was injured in state north of Cincinnati noon Thursday near roads locked down a mile radius day.
an exchange of gunfire in and abandoned his car bordered by woods and near the interstate and “Violence against law en-
an hourslong standoff with on rural roads, where he farm fields just off I-71 and urged residents and busi- forcement is not the an-
law enforcement that per- exchanged gunfire with about 45 miles (72 kilome- ness owners to lock doors swer, no matter who you’re
sisted into late afternoon, police. The man has “un- ters) northeast of Cincin- and stay inside. The inter- upset with,” Wray said
authorities said. state has been reopened. Wednesday in Omaha.
The confrontation that be- There have been grow- The FBI on Wednesday also
gan at the FBI’s Cincinnati ing threats in recent days warned its agents to avoid
office came as officials against FBI agents and of- protesters and ensure their
warned of an increase fices across the country security key cards are “not
in threats against federal since federal agents exe- visible outside FBI space,”
agents in the days follow- cuted a search warrant at citing an increase in social
ing a search of former Presi- Mar-a-Lago. media threats to bureau
dent Donald Trump’s Mar- On Gab, a social media personnel and facilities. It
a-Lago estate in Florida. site popular with white su- also warned agents to be
Federal officials said premacists and antisem- aware of their surroundings
the man “attempted to ites, users have warned and potential protesters.
breach” the visitor’s screen- they are preparing for an The warning did not specifi-
ing area at the FBI office armed revolution. cally mention this week’s
and fled when agents con- Federal officials have also search of Mar-a-Lago
fronted him. After fleeing been tracking an array of but attributed the online
onto Interstate 71, he was The entrance to the FBI headquarters in Cincinnati is shown other concerning chatter threats to “recent media
spotted by a trooper and Thursday, August 11, 2022. on Gab and other plat- reporting on FBI investiga-
fired shots as the trooper Associated Press forms threatening violence tive activity.”q