Investigators continue to probe a bizarre blast in New York City’s Central Park on Sunday that nearly blew off the foot of a visiting college student from Fairfax, Virginia, police said.
New York City Police Detective Ahmed Nasser said Monday that no arrests have been made in the case, and investigators are still trying to determine who placed the explosive material that was unwittingly triggered by 18-year-old Connor Golden.
Nasser said Golden, whose left leg had to be amputated below the knee, was going for a second surgery on Monday and remained in stable condition at a New York-area hospital.
His grandmother said Sunday that his parents had traveled to New York from Fairfax to be with him.
The blast occurred shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday, after Golden and two friends jumped off a rock in the park near East 6oth Street and 5th Avenue, police said.
Golden landed on the “shock-sensitive” material inside a plastic bag, creating a large boom that echoed through the park and was heard by people attending Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel’s funeral nearby.
Police said the explosive material was not a device and likely was not meant to be triggered by someone stepping on it. They said it appeared someone may have hidden the material in the park. They said it appeared to be an “experiment” and may have been created by someone trying to create a homemade firework.
Police said they do not believe terrorism is involved. A sweep of the park by sniffer dogs had not turned up any additional explosive material. Police do not believe Golden and his friends created the explosive material.
Golden’s family said Sunday he was a freshman at the University of Miami. They did not return calls for comment on Monday.