Portland police say a vehicle loaded with pipe bombs and propane tanks partially detonated, narrowly avoiding mass injuries at the Multnomah Athletic Club

By Austin De Dios
oregonlive.com

PORTLAND, Ore. — First responders narrowly avoided tragedy in dealing with the explosive-laden SUV that crashed into the Multnomah Athletic Club early Saturday morning, Portland police said in a press conference Monday.

That Nissan Rogue that police say was driven by 49-year-old Bruce Whitman was stocked with around 10 “improvised explosive devices,” or pipe bombs, and 20 propane tanks. When firefighters assessed the scene, a partially detonated pipe bomb fell at one of their feet, according to police Sgt. Jim DeFrain.

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“Had the correct situations occurred, that explosion would have been fivefold of what it was,” DeFrain said. “What we had that kept some of these folks from getting hurt or a much bigger tragedy is simply luck.”

DeFrain said the car was holding over 30 pounds of explosive material but that only five or six of the pipe bombs detonated, preventing a much more destructive blast. He said Whitman was “sophisticated” and “intelligent” in rigging the explosives. DeFrain said that when they tried to deactivate one of the live devices at a separate location, it caused a small explosion and a fire.

Police said Whitman went to “great pains” to purchase the components for the explosives from different places to cover his tracks. Investigators also found explosive powder in the SUV.

Investigators said that Whitman, a former employee of the exclusive private club, rented the SUV on Friday, then used it to drive into the building early Saturday morning, careening around the first floor before setting off the explosive devices. The few devices that detonated damaged the ground floor of the building. Whitman died in an ensuing fire.

No others were injured in the blast or subsequent blaze, which emergency responders extinguished around 3 a.m.

“I just think it’s important to recognize how close this was to a real tragedy and how lucky we are that it wasn’t,” DeFrain said.

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