Pipe bomb

A pipe bomb is a kind of explosive bomb. It is made from a pipe filled with an explosive material.

Different pipe bombs appearances, from a bomb awareness report by the US Department of State

In many countries making or having a pipe bomb is a serious crime.

Notable incidents

• On 4 May 1886 a pipe bomb was thrown during a rally at Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois, United States.^[1] It reached a police line and exploded, killing policeman Mathias J. Degan.^[1]
• On 20 October 1930 William Kogut, an inmate on San Quentin's death row, tore up decks of playing cards. He used them to make a pipe bomb, which he used to kill himself.^[2]
• On 27 July 1996 Eric Rudolph used a pipe bomb in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It killed two people and injured 111.^[3]
• On 25 July 1997, during the July 1997 riots in Northern Ireland, a well-known loyalist was found dead in Belfast. He is thought to have died in a premature pipe bomb explosion at an arms dump.^[4]
• On 5 June 1999 a Protestant civilian was killed when a pipe bomb was thrown through the window of her house in Portadown, Northern Ireland. She was married to a Catholic man. Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) members were blamed, although the group said they were not responsible.^[5]
• On 20 April 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used pipe bombs during the Columbine High School massacre.^[6]
• On 11 November 2001 an Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member died in a premature pipe bomb explosion during a riot in Belfast, Northern Ireland.^[7][8]
• On 3 January 2002 another UDA member died in a premature pipe bomb explosion in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.^[9]
• On 10 August 2006 four pipe bombs were found in and around the city of Salem, Oregon, United States. Some suspected a "serial pipe bomber" was at fault. A man was later arrested and charged.^[10][11]
• On 11 December 2010 a suicide bomber used one out of six pipe bombs close to a major shopping district in Stockholm, Sweden. It killed the man and no one else. The incident is known as the 2010 Stockholm bombings.^[12]
• In January 2011 a potentially deadly pipe bomb was found along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial march in Spokane, Washington. The bomb was stopped and no one died.