ALBUQUERQUE, Nov. 27 (UPI) — One person is in custody after suspicious devices were found at three vandalized Starbucks, including one that detonated and caused minimal damage to a franchise in southeast Albuquerue.
The FBI announced the arrest Saturday after the incidents occurred early Friday.
The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Albuquerque Police and Fire Departments are investigating. The individual arrested hasn’t been named.
Before the arrest, the FBI released photos from surveillance video of a suspect involved in the incident at one of the stores.
All three stores have since reopened, despite multiple windows having apparent bullet holes.
Glass doors at some of the locations were shattered.
“We heard gunshots go off. At least four rounds of gunshots go off, and then we heard a large explosion,” a witness who lives near the Starbucks in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill told KOAT-TV. “It was like a big flash — like, orange and white — just smoke everywhere.”
Another witness said he saw a person get into a car and drive away.
“We saw an individual approach the Starbucks before the explosion, and he threw something towards the window, and then the explosion went off,” said the witness.
Two other suspicious fires occurred in the area earlier in the week.
After new condominiums went up in flames, Albuquerque firefighters called the incident suspicious. The FBI is also looking into another fire around the same time at a pro-life ministry.
