Explosive Device Discovered at S.F. Starbucks

San Francisco law enforcement officials found and defused a makeshift bomb in a Starbucks bathroom on Monday, the Associated Press reports.

Police were called to the scene just after one o’clock in the afternoon when an employee spotted the suspicious device in the store’s restroom.  Roughly 100 people were evacuated from the coffee shop and the surrounding apartments, and the street was closed to traffic.

“This was a good device,” said Sgt. Neville Gittens, who would not comment on the improvised explosive’s size. “If it had exploded, it would have caused injuries or damage.”

It took police roughly an hour to defuse the device. People were allowed back into apartments and the street was reopened around 2:15 p.m., but the store remained closed until Monday evening while authorities investigated.

For CSO’s latest coverage on Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) check out Five Questions with Bomb Expert Richard Priem.

–Al Sacco