Pa. fireworks store has video of Shahzad

Associated Press

MATAMORAS, Pa.

A suspect in the failed Times Square car bombing was videotaped at a Pennsylvania store buying fireworks, but store officials said Wednesday they weren’t strong enough to cause a mass detonation.

Faisal Shahzad bought fireworks from the Phantom Fireworks showroom in this small northeastern Pennsylvania town March 8, said William Wiemer, the store’s vice president. Shahzad bought six to eight boxes, each containing 36 Silver Salute M88 fireworks, a SFlbconsumer-grade product that even if used together could not have caused a large explosion, Wiemer said.

“The M88 he used wouldn’t damage a watermelon,” said Bruce Zoldan, president of Youngstown-based Phantom Fireworks.

“There’s no doubt, had he bought this on the black market, that the outcome in New York would have been totally different,” Zoldan said.

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