Explosion at Orthodox Santa Monica Shul

Don't worry, though. Local authorities have already ruled out the splodiation being caused by a pipe bomb. They're attributing it to something entirely different, as this Santa Monica rag reports:

UPDATE: 11:15 a.m. After speaking with Sgt. Jay Trisler, there has been no bomb found. The sound of an explosion was a mechanical failure of a device authorities are currently searching for.

Eyewitnesses reported that the Los Angeles Police Department Bomb Squad was on scene as a precaution, along with the FBI, assisting the Santa Monica Police Department.

Nonetheless, as a precaution, authorities have evacuated the homes and business in a four block radius from where the report was called in, reportedly in the parking lot of the The Chabad House Lubavitch of Santa Monica, a Jewish place of worship located at 1428 17th Street.

Whether or not this is was a targeted hate crime remains to be determined. What is known is that Chabad House Lubavitch is a orthodox Jewish, and passover is only ten days away. Los Angles, of which Santa Monica abuts, is home to the second largest U.S. Jewish population, second only to New York. Attempts to reach leaders of the Chabad synagogue were unsuccessful as of the time of this report...

"A mechanical failure of a device authorities are currently searching for"--m'kay.