A loud boom startled Long Island residents on Sunday, and police are now searching for the person responsible for a possible detonation on a Suffolk County island.
A loud boom startled Long Island residents on Sunday, and police are now searching for the person responsible for a possible detonation on a Suffolk County island.
Suffolk police say they received multiple 911 calls about the noise near the Lindenhurst area around 11 a.m., and marine officers later found a 4-foot wide, 2-foot deep hole on nearby Fox Island.
No injuries were reported, police said, but arson detectives are now investigating what they say was "an unspecified device that detonated and formed a crater" on the uninhabited island off the coast of the Town of Babylon. It is unclear what was detonated, or why.
The blast could be felt from 10 blocks away, and some said it felt like a small earthquake.
"It was just a jarring boom. Everything shook a little bit," said local artist John Sacchitello, who was working at a waterfront park when he saw the blast from across Great South Bay.
Authorities say a boat was seen leaving the area at the time of the detonation and released a blurry image of the vessel late Sunday.
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