Man Throws Homemade Explosive Into Cheesecake Factory
by Eric Lieberman
An unknown man threw a homemade explosive device into a Cheesecake Factory in Southern California Thursday as patrons dined on the American fare.
“This evening an incendiary device exploded within our Pasadena restaurant,” The Cheescake Factory said in a statement, according to ABC News. “Thankfully, none of our guests or staff was injured. Law enforcement is actively investigating the incident and we hope to reopen in Pasadena on Friday, as usual.”
After the apparatus was tossed and detonated, the restaurant filled with heavy smoke.
“People were jumping over one another, fighting to get over bar stools, people were tripping, falling … stuff going everywhere,” Garrett Gunkle, a customer, told a local NBC news affiliate. “It was very chaotic.”
Officers from the Pasadena Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad arrived on the scene after receiving a call about an explosion at the restaurant.
The suspect is still on the loose and there is no known motive. Witnesses described the perpetrator as a “male of Hispanic or Middle Eastern descent” with “a heavy beard and wearing all black clothing,” including a dark beanie, according to ABC News.
“It could be a dissatisfied customer, a disgruntled employee,” Pasadena Police Lt. Mark Goodman said, according to Pasadena Star News, adding that they don’t know if the incident was a terrorist plot.
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