WESTMINSTER, Mass. (AP) – Investigators are warning residents in Westminster and Ashburnham to be careful opening their mailboxes after three homemade bombs were found in the two towns on Saturday.

Westminster Fire Chief Brenton W. MacAloney said the person or persons who planted the bombs – two in Westminster and one in Ashburnham – have at least a basic understanding of constructing explosives.

“The fact that they were able to explode shows the person or persons are beyond the trial stage,” MacAloney told the Associated Press, adding that the device suggests “middle of the road” expertise in mixing chemicals to create an explosion.

“It’s probably meant to cause damage,” rather than harm people, he said, “but it will cause injury.”

In one case, he explained, a projectile was pushed out with enough force “to push open the door of the mailbox and shoot across the street.”

“There’s enough force, enough chemicals in there, that someone can get hurt,” MacAloney said.

Two Westminster mailboxes and one in Ashburnham were blown up, but no injuries were reported. MacAloney said all the mailbox owners have in common is they live on the same rural road.

On Saturday morning in Ashburnham, police discovered a partially destroyed plastic bottle in a mailbox. The container appeared to be a homemade chemical explosive device, which included BB pellets and small pieces of tin foil, Ashburnham Police Chief Roy Bourque told the Telegram and Gazette of Worcester.

The devices are being analyzed at the state police crime lab.

A resident told police she heard a car driving by the house around midnight, and then heard a loud explosion, which she at first assumed was a firecracker.

MacAloney asked residents to use caution, to stand to the side when opening their mailboxes. He said anyone who finds such a device, exploded or unexploded, should call the fire department.

AP-ES-07-20-03 1456EDT

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