Suspicious package found at another Home Depot

ELMONT, N.Y. (WABC) -- A second Home Depot store was evacuated on Wednesday after a report of a suspicious package. Police said no explosive material was found in the Elmont store.

This follows an incident Monday after an improvised explosive device found at a Home Depot store in nearby Huntington.

Suffolk County Police were called to the Huntington store after management received a bomb threat letter.

The store was evacuated and the suspicious package was found and deactivated.

Police said Wednesday the FBI is assisting in that investigation.

Wednesday's incident involved suspicious items found inside a box from a jigsaw that a customer had returned. The bomb squad investigated as a precaution.

A Home Depot spokesman says the chain works to have appropriate security for its stores. There were no injuries in either incident.

On Monday, Suffolk police received a 911 call at 4:11 p.m.reporting the suspicious package at the store, located at 839 New York Avenue. Management evacuated the store, and the Suffolk County Bomb Squad determined the device was real and destroyed it.

There were approximately 50 people in the store at the time, including employees and customers. No other stores or nearby homes were evacuated.

Sources say a note was sent to the Home Depot store demanding $2 million in cash or else more pipe bombs would be left at other stores on Black Friday. It's not clear if the note or the pipe bomb were found first.

Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes released a statement, saying "We are cooperating with authorities on their investigation. The safety of our customers and associates is certainly of the utmost importance to us."

Authorities are trying to figure out who left the device and are not releasing many details about the bomb, particularly if it was a sophisticated device or was crudely made, only that it was a real pipe bomb.

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