PROVO, Utah — What started with a call to police about a man in a car brandishing a weapon turned the Provo Town Centre mall into a frenzy of activity on Friday.
Kathy Mitchell’s daughter has an art studio there. She says her daughter was fortunate to be home at the time.
“What first came to my head was this country’s getting more and more angry…more and more violent,” said Mitchell.
In Provo, police said they found Eric Whitaker with four pipe bombs. Hours later, that led them to the steps of Angelina Starr’s Orem apartment.
WATCH: Bomb squad responds to Provo mall, Orem apartment after 'pipe bombs' found in suspect's vehicle
“All of a sudden I heard banging on the door, and them telling us we needed to evacuate immediately,” said Starr.
Starr left her dogs behind — something she regretted when she learned they found 71 more pipe bombs just down the hall from her.
Provo’s police chief has bomb squad experience and told us there’s one sole purpose for these devices: to cause mass casualties.
“Why are you carrying pipe bombs and all this stuff in the car, unless you intend to do something with it or sell it?” Starr wondered.
Whatever the motive, what Starr knows is she wasn’t safe all this time.
“Not really — not if they went off,” said Starr.
She says it unfortunately stems from not being able to know her neighbors in the way she once did.
“Now it’s like everybody keeps to themselves, so it’s really hard to know who’s across the hall from you,” Starr said.
