Improvised explosive device thrown onto Burien street, explodes in traffic

The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an explosion near the intersection of South 116th Street and 1st Avenue South in Burien after receiving multiple 911 calls around 5:20 p.m. Friday.

Callers reported either hearing or seeing an explosion, with some describing near misses from the blast while driving through traffic.

Deputies from Burien Police, part of the KCSO, arrived on the scene and discovered the remains of an improvised explosive device that had been thrown onto the road.

“My heart was racing because I didn’t know what was going on,” a mother described what it was like when an explosive went off outside her family’s apartment building in Burien. “All you hear was this loud ‘kaboom’ – it shook the whole building.”

Surveillance video shows the device coming down out of the air, hitting the middle of the street then bouncing and rolling towards the sidewalk in front of a bus stop.

One vehicle goes by as it’s smoking then, just as another one passes, the device blows up.

John Richards, a DJ with KEXP, was in that SUV with his wife and young son.

“We were, I think in that moment, just really happy that it didn’t blow up under the car. My wife and I looked at each other and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing – that who knows what happens if that blows up under someone’s car,” Richards told KIRO 7.

Neighbors said the blast was terrifying.

“My daughter started crying immediately. She said her heart was pounding. She said she was really scared. My dog started running in circles and was really frightened,” said the mother.

So far, no details about the device or where it came from.

The King County Sheriff’s Bomb Detection Unit is investigating.

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