Edmonton Airport Screener Opened Pipe Bomb
Highlights
RCMP search warrant documents obtained exclusively by CBC News detail a shocking degree of ineptness and dangerous handling of a potentially lethal pipe bomb at Edmonton International Airport by nearly everyone involved in the screening process.
The search warrants describe how airport security screeners actually opened the pipe bomb and dumped the explosive contents, apparently oblivious to the potential for triggering a deadly explosion.
The pipe bomb was inadvertently carried into the airport screening area by then 18-year-old Skylar Murphy of Spruce Grove, Alta., on Sept. 20, 2013.
Murphy was with his mother, and his mother’s fiancé, a sheriff with Alberta Justice who works at the Alberta legislature.
At 5:25 a.m., a screener detected something in a duffel bag, and Murphy was identified as the owner of the bag. Murphy immediately looked nervous and embarrassed.
Inside the duffel bag was a camera bag and inside that bag was another small velvet bag from a shop that sells marijuana paraphernalia. The small bag was taken out of the screening machine and opened.
“[The screener] is observed to examine the device further by taking a swab and doing an explosives detection test,” the document states.
The screener then discusses the item with Murphy, who denies it is his.
The device is checked out by at least two other screening officers.
“[The screener] is then observed to put the device back into the small black pouch and try and return it to Murphy,” according to a description of the event from the surveillance video.
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Highlights
RCMP search warrant documents obtained exclusively by CBC News detail a shocking degree of ineptness and dangerous handling of a potentially lethal pipe bomb at Edmonton International Airport by nearly everyone involved in the screening process.
The search warrants describe how airport security screeners actually opened the pipe bomb and dumped the explosive contents, apparently oblivious to the potential for triggering a deadly explosion.
The pipe bomb was inadvertently carried into the airport screening area by then 18-year-old Skylar Murphy of Spruce Grove, Alta., on Sept. 20, 2013.
Murphy was with his mother, and his mother’s fiancé, a sheriff with Alberta Justice who works at the Alberta legislature.
At 5:25 a.m., a screener detected something in a duffel bag, and Murphy was identified as the owner of the bag. Murphy immediately looked nervous and embarrassed.
Inside the duffel bag was a camera bag and inside that bag was another small velvet bag from a shop that sells marijuana paraphernalia. The small bag was taken out of the screening machine and opened.
“[The screener] is observed to examine the device further by taking a swab and doing an explosives detection test,” the document states.
The screener then discusses the item with Murphy, who denies it is his.
The device is checked out by at least two other screening officers.
“[The screener] is then observed to put the device back into the small black pouch and try and return it to Murphy,” according to a description of the event from the surveillance video.
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