Robbers Bomb Spokane Bank; Newspaper Office Is Also Hit

Two men wearing ski masks used a pipe bomb in a bank robbery Monday after apparently setting off another bomb moments earlier at a newspaper office, authorities said.

No injuries were reported, but both buildings were heavily damaged.

Investigators believe the pipe bomb at the Spokesman-Review’s Spokane Valley office was meant to divert attention from the bank robbery, Sheriff John Goldman said.

Witnesses saw a customized white and maroon van at both locations. A stolen van fitting that description was found unoccupied shortly after the robbery in a parking lot a few blocks from the bank.

“It was a big boom,” said Larry Roland, a bank customer who called 911 from a nearby car dealership. “There was a lot of smoke. It happened so fast I didn’t really have time to think about it.”

A one-page, typewritten note left with the newspaper office bomb made religious references and mentioned Yahweh, an English rendering of the Hebrew name for God, the Spokesman-Review said in a statement.

The term Yahweh also is used by some members of the Christian Identity movement, which is known to have ties to white separatist organizations. The newspaper said it gave the note to authorities.

Goldman refused to comment on the note. Federal agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also are investigating.

Before the blast, a newspaper employee inside the building saw a man wearing a ski mask and camouflage clothing leave a package outside, the newspaper’s statement said. The employee opened a door, saw a bomb with a lighted fuse and slammed it. The bomb exploded moments later, blowing out two doors and all the windows in the back stairwell.

About a dozen people were inside the newspaper office.

Ten minutes later, two masked gunmen entered a U.S. Bank branch about 30 blocks west of the newspaper. They ordered the 15 people inside the bank to evacuate, then took an unspecified amount of cash. No shots were fired.

The bomb exploded inside the empty building.