LOS ANGELES—A suspect in the explosion outside a Santa Monica synagogue is believed to have left Southern California.
The FBI said Monday that 60-year-old Ron Hirsch purchased a Greyhound bus ticket to New York and may have boarded the bus on the day of Thursday’s blast. Video surveillance indicates that he got off in Denver.
Hirsch, a transient known to spend time at synagogues and other Jewish centers seeking charity, is believed to have family in New York.
Authorities initially thought the blast, which sent a pipe and chunks of concrete into a house next to the Chabad (huh-BAHD’) House Lubavitch (LOO-bah-vich) of Santa Monica, was an industrial accident.
They now believe the device was deliberately constructed. Items found at the scene were linked to Hirsch.
