Terrorism Discounted in Parking Garage Bomb
The son of a prominent Washington businessman was critically injured when an apparent pipe bomb blew up as he was starting his father’s vehicle in a basement garage.
Wright Sigmund, 21, is a student and the son of insurance executive Donald Sigmund. The younger Sigmund has been living in Georgetown for the summer, according to his mother, and was borrowing his father’s vehicle.
The 2 p.m. blast in the garage sent thick black smoke billowing onto the street and prompted the evacuation of stores, offices and restaurants for at least a block surrounding the building.
There were worries that it might be terrorism, but police and FBI officials said their preliminary investigation showed no such signs.
Sigmund was taken to a hospital, where officials said he was having surgery for burns and trauma.
Police said they recovered bits of pipe and wiring apparently used to make the bomb but said nothing else about its composition.
“He turned the ignition on, and it blew up,” said Sigmund’s mother, Claire Phillips of Dallas.
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