The story of a mentally disturbed young man who committed suicide by setting off a bomb in a park adjacent to a middle school in the early morning darkness of a September school day generated the most interest among Evanston Now readers of any public-safety-related story this year.
The story of a mentally disturbed young man who committed suicide by setting off a bomb in a park adjacent to a middle school in the early morning darkness of a September school day generated the most interest among Evanston Now readers of any public-safety-related story this year.
Police searched for evidence near where the bomber’s body was found.
Police eventually concluded that Colin Dalebroux, 21, of 1000-1012 Main St., wasn’t trying to kill anybody else when he detonated the bomb that ended his life on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
Neighbors heard the blast shortly before 4 a.m., but it wasn’t until a man walking his dog through Fitzsimons Park just before 6 a.m. discovered the body, that police started to figure out what had happened.
Dale Wyatt, who found the body, talked with reporters near the scene of the explosion.
Authorities quickly decided to close Nichols Middle School, but the timing meant that word didn’t reach parents and children until they were already starting to arrive for the school day.
Around mid-morning, the bomb squad detonated a second explosive device found at the scene, and the area around the school and park remained closed off for more than a day as police continued to search for evidence. The school didn’t re-open for two days.
Police also searched the apartment building where Dalebroux lived. They found no explosives there, but did find his computer — which contained documents that led police to conclude he had acted alone and intended only to kill himself.