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Jacob Schmoyer used a homemade bomb to kill himself, his son Jonathan and an acquaintance, David Hallman, in a murder-suicide, authorities said Thursday.
"The collective assessment and opinion of the entire investigation showed that it was an intentional act … of Jacob Schmoyer," said Special Agent Don Robinson of the Bureau of Alcohol , tobacco and firearms during a press conference this morning.
The information comes from a comprehensive investigation into Saturday's explosion in Turner Street, which displaced all residents between the seventh and eighth streets and damaged several buildings to the point of rendering them uninhabitable.
The letters sent by Schmoyer to the family and the Allentown police detailed the components and materials used in the aircraft, Robinson said. Schmoyer wrote that he was targeting Hallman and intended to "take his son with him".
"The heart of the letters, he was very unhappy about his life, was describing himself in a negative way, admitting many other offenses, small robberies to burglaries," Robinson said. "He has expressed the desire not to stay and unfortunately … his intention to take Mr. Hallman and his son with him.
"He was miserable … There was a lot of hate there, some directed against Mr. Hallman and others against his son."
The story caught the country's attention and Allentown City Hall's boardroom was cluttered with media when the authorities revealed their findings.
"It's a sad day for the family," said Robinson.
US lawyer John Gallagher called the crime scene a nightmare.
"We are sincerely and deeply grateful to the men and women who work day and night for the past five days and five nights. . . in this unusual and difficult crime scene, "he said. "We asked our police to make sense of what was really a war zone."
Schmoyer knew that he was putting a lot of other people in danger, "Gallagher added." It's a miracle that no other witness has been seriously injured or injured in this. " case. "
Robinson did not want to explain why Schmoyer had decided to kill his son or why he had targeted Hallman. He said that Schmoyer had "attracted" Hallman.
The investigation showed that the craft, consisting of two unspecified explosives, was either in the center console of the vehicle, or near the passenger seat. Schmoyer was in the driver's seat, Hallman in the front passenger seat and the baby in the back seat.
Robinson said that practical information on bomb manufacturing is widely available.
"There is a lot of freedom of information. A lot of information there. Now with a click of the mouse, you can get it. "
The surveillance video watched by The Morning Call on Wednesday showed Hallman, 66, who lived close to the stage and climbed into Schmoyer's car.
About two seconds after closing the door, the Nissan explodes into a fireball.
The three letters to Schmoyer's family and one to the Allentown police were dated September 29, the day of the blast, and arrived Tuesday and Wednesday, Robinson said.
In an interview with The Morning Call, Shannon Rehrig, Jonathan Schmoyer's aunt – known as JJ – said her family was "disgusted" at having learned from what her father was capable of.
"He murdered an innocent child. It's an evil, "said Rehrig, the sister of the boy's mother, Jasmine Kerecz.
Rehrig stated that Kerecz had read the letters that Jacob Schmoyer had sent. "There are letters saying that he had something against autism, which he suspected JJ had," Rehrig said.
Jasmine "wanted to believe that Jake was not capable of that. She wanted to believe that it was an accident, "Rehrig said. "But that gave her the closure she needs."
Rehrig added, "She always introduced herself as Jake's wife and today she said she was not his wife."
Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said the three people died as a result of traumatic injuries during the blast, but he has not yet decided on the type of death that could be homicide, suicide or indeterminacy.
ATF said the investigation involved recreating the circumstances of the blast with another car and testing the explosive residue at the ATF National Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.
On Wednesday afternoon, police announced that some residents could now start returning home, but had to register with an officer on the perimeter of the blocked area. Deputy Allentown police chief, Gail Struss, said that owners of a handful of homes heavily damaged by the blast might not be able to return for several days.
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