Beaches reopened after pipe bomb blast, probe ongoing

No injuries were reported – most likely because registration problems delayed the start of the race, so no one was near the garbage can when the explosion happened.

The device went off about 9:35 a.m. ET near the starting point of the Seaside Semper Five 5K, which had been scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Chris Christie said Sunday a pipe bomb that exploded inside a trash can on a charity run path is a definite act of terrorism meant to frighten people in his state.

No injuries were reported in the explosion.

A source tells CBS News that they have not yet definitively made the connection between the blast in Chelsea, New York City, Saturday night that left more than two dozen injured, and the blast in Seaside.

Investigators have found similarities between a bomb that exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and the explosive devices in New York City – including the use of cellphones to detonate the devices – according to multiple law enforcement officials, but authorities Sunday said they have not concluded the incidents are connected. However, the source says both the Chelsea bombs and the Seaside Park bombs used cell phones as triggers.

“The fortunate thing here in New Jersey is that no one was injured”, Christie said.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is leading the investigation, with help from other federal, state and local officials.

The Department of Homeland Security says it is “actively monitoring and participating in the investigations”.

Officials noted that if the race had started on time, a “good number of people” would have been running past the area where the explosion occurred. “And so as I said, we have some promising leads”, Christie said.

Della Fave said there were about 3,000 people assembled at the registration area for the race when the pipe-bomb detonated. He said no additional devices were found after the dogs completed their sweep.

A barbecue festival in Seaside Heights was going on as planned, but the mayor of Point Pleasant chose to cancel a seafood festival because of the day’s events, Della Fave said.

“When it went off, there was nobody in the area”, Della Fave said. “There’s no word on when it will be rescheduled, but that’s where we’re at right now”.

A race volunteer told CNN’s Anne Woolsey that police and local law enforcement made the decision to shut down the race.

“It could be somebody that has grievance against the U.S. military, possibly the Marine Corps specifically, and have nothing to do with an overseas-inspired attack like ISIS”.

He also said there is no evidence at this time to link the explosion to an incident in St. Cloud, MN where a man stabbed eight people inside a mall before being killed by an off-duty police officer. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was found guilty of 30 counts related to the bombings and sentenced to death.