Would-be bomber dies in Kitchener explosion

Two homes searched after vehicle blows up outside courthouse

KITCHENER— Emergency crews and a bomb squad were called to downtown Kitchener Friday morning after a suspected would-be bomber died in a vehicle explosion outside the provincial courthouse.

Waterloo Regional Police Superintendent Eugene Fenton said it appears the man found dead in the vehicle is the same person responsible for the explosion.

“Therefore we are searching two residences in the city of Kitchener to determine if there is any further concern for public safety,” he said at a media briefing late Friday afternoon.

First reports of the vehicle explosion outside the courthouse at Duke and Frederick streets came in at 10:30 a.m. Police officers, firefighters and paramedics arrived on scene.

Officers in the Explosive Disposal Unit were on scene into the late afternoon and were able to determine a suspected improvised explosive device caused the explosion.

Witnesses told The Record they heard a loud noise like an explosion and then watched as a vehicle parked on the Duke Street side of the courthouse went up in flames. Aaron McComb was in the area to pick up his paycheque from the construction site near the courthouse Friday when he heard a loud noise. McComb saw a few people run to the source of the noise and he followed, thinking he could help i n some way since he has CPR and First Aid training. He saw a man standing by the vehicle trying to help. McComb said the other man opened the door and they were hit with a wall of heat.

“At that point we saw the guy in the car, buckled up,” McComb said with a halting voice.

“I tried to get myself close enough where I could unbuckle his seatbelt, try to drag him out, do something, but once we opened the car door, the flames were so intense, they were so hot, they were crawling out through the roof of the vehicle,” he said.