(The following article by Matt Courter was posted on the Olney Daily Mail website on April 18.)
OLNEY, Ill. — Police are still investigating the discovery of a bomb found under railroad tracks about one mile east of Fairfield on the afternoon of April 8.
Wayne County Chief Deputy David Zola said a Norfolk Southern Railroad maintenance crew discovered the device beneath the tracks near Fairfield off Ill. 15.
Zola said today that interviews are being conducted with railroad employees. No arrests have been made.
The device was approximately 6 to 8 inches long, made of plastic pipe and was capped at both ends with a fuse. The fuse had been lit but apparently burned out with about 6 inches remaining.
The sheriff’s department called the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Unit along with the Illinois Secretary of State Bomb Squad, which examined the device before detonating it in a field.
Debris from the bomb, which was apparently filled with black powder, included shrapnel composed of nuts and bolts.
Zola said the device would have been powerful enough to damage the tracks and derail a train. The incident is under investigation by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Illinois Secretary of State Bomb Squad and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department.