Peoria officials said a bomb was found at BioUrja Renewables and later defused; FBI said it is investigating
Residents were ordered to evacuate parts of an Illinois community on Friday after the mayor there said authorities found a bomb at a local ethanol- and alcohol-production plant.
The discovery reported at BioUrja Renewables in Peoria triggered a mandatory evacuation over a one-mile evacuation zone encompassing sections of that city as well as the adjacent municipality of East Peoria.
“It is real – this is a real thing,” Peoria’s mayor, Rita Ali, said, according to local news outlet WMBD. “We know that is a real threat. We know it is a bomb.”
Peoria’s police chief, Brad Dixon, said at a news conference early on Saturday that bomb technicians had rendered the object in question safe.
But Dixon asked for the public’s patience as investigators searched BioUrja Renewals’ expansive facility for other explosive devices, as the Peoria news outlet WEEK reported.
“We don’t know if there are other devices,” Ali remarked.
Meanwhile, Ryan Presley of the FBI, who is in charge of the bureau’s field office about an hour away in Springfield, Illinois, said agents would pursue whoever was responsible “tirelessly” and “bring them to justice”.
At about 7.05pm local time on Friday, the Peoria police department had announced that officers were “actively…
