FBI: Colorado Mall Plot Likely Unrelated to Columbine
LITTLETON, Colorado --
An apparent attempted bombing at a Colorado shopping mall likely was not related to the 12-year anniversary of the shootings at nearby Columbine High School, according to the FBI.
Investigators have found a motive but aren't releasing additional information, FBI Denver spokesman Dave Joly said Monday.
The agency on Sunday alerted field offices covering all 50 states and Puerto Rico to be on the lookout for Earl Albert Moore, 65.
Moore has been named the suspect in Wednesday's fire at Southwest Plaza Mall, about two miles (three kilometers) from Columbine, where 12 students and a teacher were killed in 1999.
Authorities discovered a pipe bomb and two propane tanks after the fire, raising fears from Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink that the incident was timed to coincide with the anniversary.
"It is unlikely that the events of 4/20/11 are related to any other incident that may have occurred on that date, previously," Joly said, declining to mention Columbine by name and adding that nothing has been ruled out.
Colorado authorities said they discovered a pipe bomb and two propane tanks in a hallway of the mall's food court after firefighters responded to a fire. The explosives, which did not detonate, were found after the fire in the hallway prompted an evacuation of the mall. No one was injured.
Mink, the sheriff, noted that the times of the mall fire and the Columbine shootings were similar, as well as the use of a pipe bomb and propane tanks, which were used during the attack at the school in 1999. Authorities declined to release details about what was found at the mall.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records show that Moore was released from prison April 13 after serving time in a federal prison in Atlanta and Estill, South Carolina. Federal court records show that Moore pleaded guilty in May 2005 to robbing a bank in Crab Orchard, West Virginia, of $2,546.
A judge sentenced Moore to 18 years in prison for the bank robbery, but a federal appeals court in 2006 ruled his stiff sentence was "unreasonable" and Moore's sentence was reduced to seven years. Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Edmond Ross said Moore received a "good conduct" release from prison after serving six years of his sentence.
Moore has an extensive criminal record and should be considered dangerous, federal officials said.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show several arrests for possession of dangerous drugs, theft, and possession of burglary tools dating to 1984.
Moore has used at least seven aliases that include variations of the names Earl Albert Buchannan, Donald Charles Morelli and Gary Steele, according to state arrest records. In addition, the FBI said Moore also uses the alias, John Lindzy.
Moore lived in Colorado at least part time from the mid-1980s to 2004, according to public records.
