Lake Wales (WTFF) – The FBI corrected the Lake Wales Police Department and Polk County Sheriff’s Office after they reported that two IED’s blew up at Eagle Ridge Mall on Sunday night.
They weren’t actually IED’s (improvised explosive devices), as the law officers claimed, at least not by legal definition.
They were just marine flares.
Florida Man taped two flares with electrical tape (surprisingly not duct tape) and stuck them in a service corridor at the mall. There was some damage to the ceiling, but the police aren’t even sure if the flares caused that damage. Fire fighters arrived on location after some people reported smoke near the JC Penney entrance. Other reports say it wasn’t smoke that brought them out, but an alarm call (maybe Florida Man pulled the fire alarm?).
A backpack was also found, which made headlines for a while, enticing worried parents to click on the ABC Action News article about explosions at the mall and shit.
The mall was evacuated.
Originally some reports like The Daily Ridge said were 5 or 6 explosive devices. In reality, there were only two.
Nobody knows why Florida Man did this, other than the fact that it’s kinda fun to have your shenanigans shows up on the news.
The kinda fat, middle-aged, white male suspect was last seen wearing a grey shirt and a grey hat. Good luck profiling just about every single person in Pork County with that description…
Anyway, if you see a fat, middle-aged, white man walking around Polk County who looks like someone that would put flares in a mall for shits and giggles, be sure to call the police.
