News

Philly police investigating second ATM explosive attack

ATM explosions are rare in America, but two attacks this month in Philadelphia raise the question whether the US is at the leading edge of an unwelcome trend.

July 22, 2015

ATM attacks using explosives are unusual in the U.S., where criminals typically prefer other types of brute force. In fact, they're unfamiliar enough that Philadelphians who heard one yesterday evening called 911 reporting the sound of gunfire.

Police arrived at the scene to find a destroyed ATM with parts blown as far as 100 feet from machine, according to an ABC news affiliate's account of the incident. There were no reports of injuries.

Tuesday night's incident marked the second attack in Philadelphia in recent weeks. The previous attack was carried out on July 9. Police believe that the two crimes are related and said that second explosion was larger than the first, but both failed to crack open the ATM's safe.

Surveillance video from nearby businesses showed two men running away from the ATM just before the attack. Authorities in Philly have called in the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Homeland Security to assist with the investigation, the report said.