Jersey Shore Pipe Bomb Explosion in Seaside Park: Christie Cites 'Promising Leads' in Investigation

SEASIDE PARK, NJ — Investigators have "some promising leads but no suspects at this time" in the pipe bomb explosion in Seaside Park Saturday along the planned route for a Marine Corps charity 5K, Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday morning.

Speaking with reporter Jake Tapper on CNN, Christie said the investigation does not show any evidence so far that there is a connection between the Seaside Park bombing and attacks that occurred in New York City on Saturday night or a stabbing attack in Minnesota.

"You don’t want to jump to conclusions, and you don’t want to put information out there that you don’t know is absolutely true," Christie said, calling them terrorist attacks.

"Obviously, if you look at a number of these incidents, you can call them whatever you want, they are terrorism though," Christie said. "There is no doubt about that. They are terrorism."

"Now, who is responsible is something else, and what the motive was is something else that hopefully we are going to find out in the days ahead," he said. "The fortunate thing here in New Jersey is that no one was injured. The race had not started yet down at the Jersey Shore. So we are very fortunate that no one is injured here and we pray for those people who were injured in those other attacks."

In the New York incident, a pressure cooker exploded in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, injuring nearly 30 people. In Minnesota, six people were injured and one killed in the stabbing attack at a mall in St. Cloud, according to the Independent Journal Review, and the suspect in that attack was in custody.

Michael Whitaker, spokesman for the FBI's Newark office, which is leading the Seaside Park investigation, said FBI personnel and other authorities continue to collect evidence and conduct interviews in the wake of the pipe bomb incident, which happened at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

The explosion of a pressure cooker in Chelsea Saturday evening has heightened concerns all along the Jersey Shore, where events have been canceled in response to the bombings.

Whitaker said the FBI is not drawing conclusions about any relationship between the bombings in New York and Seaside Park.

"We can't speculate on that," Whitaker said. He said members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, including FBI, ATF, Homeland Security as well as the Ocean County Prosecutor's office and other local agencies, are in Seaside Park investigating.

The pipe bomb explosion, in the area of D Street and Ocean Avenue, involved at least one pipe bomb in a plastic garbage can, state Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said Saturday. It occurred along the planned route of the Semper Five 5K, which raises money to assist Marines who are injured while serving or the families of those killed in active duty service.

Read more: Pipe Bomb Explodes Along 5K Seaside Park Racecourse on the Jersey Shore

The race, which had been expected to start at 9 a.m., had been expected to draw 3,000 people, including runners, volunteers and spectators. But the start was delayed due to a suspicious backpack that was found in the area, authorities said Saturday. After the explosion, the race was cancelled.

The explosion has sent ripples through other Jersey Shore towns. The Festival by the Sea, Point Pleasant Beach's annual seafood extravaganza, was shut down just as it had gotten started Saturday.

On Sunday, the San Gennaro Festival in Belmar was canceled.

Read more: Major Jersey Shore Events Cancelled After Seaside Park Pipebomb Explosion

Whitaker said restrictions on entry to Seaside Park and the beach have been lifted, however.

"Everything is open and access is available," he said.

The FBI continues to urge anyone with any information to contact them by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), Option 1. No piece of information should be considered too small, authorities said.

“We are working hard to find the person responsible for this," Whitaker said. "We will not rest until we do.”

Watch the video of Christie's CNN interview here:

Photo of the scene of the explosion provided by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office