The FBI has made an arrest in connection with a Monday night explosion at the Air Force recruiting office in Bixby.
"We can confirm that we have taken into custody a person of interest in regard to the bombing at the USAF Recruiting Center last night," the FBI Oklahoma City office said on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.
In custody is 28-year-old Benamin Roden of Tulsa. He was arrested at the Sand Dollar Apartments near 61st and South Riverside.
On his Face Book page, he had posted about being upset with the government over his lack of employment.
The FBI said earlier Tuesday the explosion is not currently being considered an act of terrorism.
That’s despite an earlier statement from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that it was being treated as an act of domestic terror "out of an abundance of caution" because it happened at a military facility. The FBI is in charge of the investigation.
"At this point, we don’t know if it was a disgruntled employee, an act of domestic terrorism, just someone playing games. So, we’re treating it as strictly a criminal investigation with an explosive device," said FBI Agent Jessi Rice.
Rice described the device used to blow the front door off the recruiting station around 10:30 p.m. Monday as a pipe bomb. The explosion happened while the office was closed and no one was there.
"It’s a little bit comforting that they didn’t want to kill anybody. Obviously, they would have done it in broad daylight if that were the case, so, from that standpoint, it’s a positive," Rice said. "The reason they did it at night probably shows that they wanted to hide."
The FBI is checking with nearby businesses for video, interviewing witnesses and trying to rebuild the bomb.
"You can learn a lot by the construction of the bomb, you know, potentially get any fingerprints or anything off the bomb just to better lead to the identity of a subject," Rice said.
The FBI is also considering whether Monday night's explosion is connected to recent vandalism at a nearby Air National Guard recruiting station.
