MEXICO — Police continue to investigate the cause of a small explosion at the First Baptist Church that left their mailbox destroyed and their sign damaged, police Chief Roy Hodsdon said Monday morning.

Hodsdon said that his officers responded at 11:05 a.m. July 5 to a report from First Baptist Church on Roxbury Road that sometime during the previous night, someone set off an explosive inside of their mailbox, which subsequently destroyed the mailbox and damaged their sign in front of the church.

Hodsdon said that Lt. Dan Carrier responded to the complaint and discovered that the explosive was a “kid-bomb,” or a “cricket,” which is a small, empty CO2 cartridge filled with a fine grade of black powder or pistol powder.

“It seems that there was some kind of accelerant used to cause the explosion,” Hodsdon said.

Hodsdon said that the pastor of the church heard an explosion outside the previous night, but didn’t think to report it.

“He thought it was just someone letting off fireworks, because it was the Fourth of July,” Hodsdon said. “When he went outside the next morning, he found his mailbox destroyed and his sign damaged.”

Although the investigation is still ongoing, Hodsdon said that the explosion does not seem to be “hate-based” or “based on any biases.”

“The church is sort of secluded, so right now, it’s not looking like the explosion has anything to do with the church,” Hodsdon said.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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