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Pressure cooker found near U.S. Capitol detonated by bomb squad

Police found the pressure cooker in a vehicle parked near the Capitol building.

By Kate Stanton
Police detonated a pressure cooker found in a "suspicious" vehicle parked near the U.S. Capitol. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Police detonated a pressure cooker found in a "suspicious" vehicle parked near the U.S. Capitol. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) -- A bomb squad has detonated a pressure cooker found inside an unattended vehicle near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Sunday.

A spokeswoman for Capitol Police said officers saw the "suspicious" vehicle and detected a gasoline smell on Third Street between Jefferson Drive and Madison Drive.

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According to the Washington Post, people attending a Memorial Day concert on the National Mall could hear the sound of the bomb squad's controlled detonation.

Police arrested the owner of the vehicle, Israel Shimeles of Alexandria, Va., and charged him with "operating a vehicle after revocation."

Pressure cookers, a popular cooking appliance, can also be used to make bombs. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, used pressure cooker bombs to carry out the deadly Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.

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