The 73-year-old father of a Baltimore police captain was critically injured early yesterday when a crude bomb went off in his hands as he attempted to remove it from the roof of a car in front of his home in the 2100 block of E. Lombard St.
But whoever built the bomb may have intended to kill the man's other son, the car's owner, as part of a neighborhood dispute, police said.
Frank Busnuk, the father of Capt. Gerard F. Busnuk of the Northwestern District, was in critical condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he under went more than seven hours of surgery late yesterday, according to hospital spokesman Chuck Jackson. A Fire Department official said Mr. Busnuk suffered severe injuries to both hands and may lose them. He also sustained serious facial and upper torso injuries.
Police said they knew of no motive for the incident, but residents said the area had recently experienced problems with juveniles vandalizing cars and other property. There was speculation, according to police, that the blast was meant for Mr. Busnuk's son Paul, who had complained about the vandalism and reported several incidents to police.
Police were examining the reports for the names of persons suspected of damaging property and who may have had a motive for attempting to kill Paul Busnuk. They also were interviewing him to determine if he knew of anyone who might have wanted to wanted to take his life.
The explosion, which occurred about 4:30 a.m., left a dent several inches deep in the top of Paul Busnuk's Thunderbird. It also blew out the car's front window and those of at least two houses. Pieces of the Thunderbird were found hundreds of feet away.
Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms removed the car at 11:30 a.m. yesterday and collected fragments of the bomb to be tested at the agency's national laboratory in Rockville, according to ATF spokesman Jim Yurgealitis.
"I think unfortunately most of the blast went toward the victim," Mr. Yurgealitis said. "It was enough to blow the victim's hand off and do serious damage to his other hand."
Robert Starks, 33, who lives in the first block of S. Collington St., came rushing to the scene when he felt the blast. He tore off his shirt and tried to stop the blood flowing from Mr. Busnuk's arms, then realized the burns on the victim's chest and face were equally bad.
The residents who did not see the extent of Mr. Busnuk's injuries felt the power of the explosion. A woman who lives across the street from the victim said it sounded like a cannon going off.
The whole incident had residents such as Mr. Starks scared and angry.
"This guy's 73 years old," he said. "He's the fabric of the neighborhood."
According to police and fire officials, Mr. Busnuk was looking out the window of his house around 4:30 a.m. when he saw a man standing on the passenger side of his son's car. The man walked away, leaving an object on the roof.
Curious, Mr. Busnuk came out of his house, stepped off his stoop and walked toward the car, parked a few feet away.
He then picked up the object with both hands and it went off, blasting a hole in the car's roof and blowing off his fingers, some of which were found several feet away.
Capt. Stephan Fugate of the Fire Department's investigation bureau said the explosion was heard by firefighters at a station five blocks away at Eastern and Collington avenues.
"Whoever made that bomb knew what they were doing," Captain Fugate said.
One investigator said the top of a mayonnaise jar with a neat hole drilled in it was found near the intersection of South Chester Street, several houses from the blast scene. Also found were parts of a coffee can, electrical wires, parts of a battery and other debris believed associated with the bomb.
A bomb expert described the type of device after learning what kind of materials were found. He said it appeared the mayonnaise jar was filled with one type of explosive material and that it was placed inside the coffee can, which also may have been filled with an explosive material.
He said the coffee can probably was placed on a pressure plate that was set down very carefully on the car's roof. When Mr. Busnuk lifted the coffee can, some kind of contact was set into motion, perhaps caused by a battery.
The electrical connection, he said, would have set off the mixture of chemicals and the resulting explosion would have been severe.
Captain Fugate said the bomb appeared to have been right out of a book titled "The Anarchist's Handbook."