Fullerton : Explosions Near CSUF Thought to Be a Prank

In what police are calling a prank, residents of the University Village apartment complex near Cal State Fullerton were awakened at 4 a.m. Wednesday by seven loud explosions.

A Fullerton police spokesman said no injuries were reported. Residents, primarily students, called the police to the Oxford Avenue complex. When officers arrived, they also heard explosions. They found nine plastic beverage bottles--seven of which had already exploded--containing an unidentified gas.

The Orange County Sheriff Department bomb squad defused two of the containers holding the mysterious mixture. The gas had not been identified as of Wednesday night. Police are looking for suspects.

The culprit did not apparently want anyone or anything to be hurt by the blasts, officers said, because the bombs were placed far enough away from the apartments to avoid injury or property damage.

Police officials speculated Wednesday that whoever mixed the chemicals must have known that they would blow up after sitting for a while and probably did it as a prank.