Revenge Note Reported in Alabama Blast

An exploding package that injured an Episcopal priest was a homemade bomb made with murderous intent, federal agents said Tuesday.

CBS News reported Tuesday that a note was found vowing revenge against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and that the victim, the Rev. Mike Schnatterly, lived next door to a retired ATF agent.

A spokeswoman for the ATF in Washington, Susan McCarron, confirmed that investigators had found a note but she did not know what it said. She also did not know whether a retired ATF agent lived in the neighborhood.

Schnatterly, pastor at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, survived the blast Monday by “sheer luck,” said James Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the ATF office in Birmingham.

Schnatterly was in his carport Monday morning when he found a box on the trunk of his car, police said. When he picked it up, it exploded.

Cavanaugh wouldn’t say whether Schnatterly was the intended target, if the investigators had suspects or what the motive appeared to be.

The bomb was in a cardboard box with “U-Haul” printed on the side and contained a solid explosive, Cavanaugh said.

Schnatterly was reported in good condition at a hospital on Tuesday, but no details of his injuries were available.