Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Journal photo/ Kathy Borchers
The Starbucks on Thayer Street is open this morning after it was evacuated around 11 p.m. yesterday because of a small explosion. A section of the shop is closed.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- The police is investigating a small explosion that forced the evacuation of a Starbucks coffee shop on Providence's East Side.

Providence Police Maj. Thomas Oates said investigators believe someone set off a homemade incendiary device in a plastic soda bottle as a prank on last night, New Year's Eve.

About 20 to 30 customers were inside the Thayer Street coffee shop when the explosion happened just before 11 p.m. No one was reported injured and Oates said the only damage was minor charring on the floor.

Starbucks spokeswoman Deb Trevino said the company received no phone calls, threats or other information that lead them to believe they were targeted by a bomb maker.

Investigators were back at the store today to interview clerks, examine any video camera footage of the incident and try to identify who was in the shop just before the explosion.

Oates said common chemicals were mixed to cause the blast, but would not say specifically what was used.

Oates said a couple other small plastic bottle bombs have been set off in Providence in the past year or so, including one in Kennedy Plaza, a bus transit hub across from Providence City Hall. But yesterday's blast was the first inside a building.

Police don't believe whoever set off the device intended to cause serious property damage or hurt anyone.

Even so, Oates said, "It's a dangerous prank."

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