ATF, Hempstead police searching for bomb maker

HOUSTON – Hempstead police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have launched an investigation into who crafted a homemade bomb found on the side of a neighborhood street. Police said a city employee checking for water leaks found the device near a ditch on 1st Street near St. Barbe on February 15th.

“It's terrifying, it really is,” said Tamara Boulds.

Boulds and her four children live near the spot where a city worker found the bomb.

“I mean that's, I mean, no words to explain how upset I'd be,” Boulds said in reference to the possibility of her children finding the device.

Police said the employee didn't realize what it was he found, so he took the device back to the town's municipal barn. The next day a co-worker saw the device and immediately called police, who in turn called in agents with the ATF. Officials with the ATF said the device was sent to their lab for forensic testing.

“Anybody who would leave an explosive device in a public place, but more importantly in (a) place where children gather and families play, that says something,” said Warren Diepraam, a prosecutor with the Waller County District Attorney’s Office. “We need to get the public involved in this so that can give us some leads to maybe help solve this.”

Hempstead Mayor Michael Wolfe Sr. said no other devices have been found and the town has received no indication there is a deeper problem brewing.

“No idea, no form of leads or anything at all. This was something the employee happened to stumble on and saw,” said Wolfe.

Diepraam said his concern is that whoever made this device is possibly trying to make more.

“Maybe they're going to get better, maybe the next time it will actually explode,” said Diepraam.

If you know anything about this device, you are asked to call Hempstead Police or the ATF’s Houston office.