Explosive thrown through bedroom window of 3-yo

By Steven Graves

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    EVANSTON, Illinois (WBBM) — An Evanston mother returned to her home on Wednesday, hours after someone threw an explosive into her young son’s bedroom.

Incredibly, the family got out safely.

Thankfully, Aarynae Morales’ 3-year-old son was not in his room at the time of the incident. He is safe, even after having to be picked up from a burning couch.

As CBS 2’s Steven Graves reported, Morales likened what happened to a movie scene.

“The feelings I felt while it was going on – it’s all unexplainable, because I’ve never seen anything like that,” she said.

The explosion took place late Tuesday night in Morales’ home in the 1400 block of Brown Avenue on Evanston’s west side, close to Evanston Township High School.

Morales was asleep around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in her home when it all happened.

“I woke up like in the middle of it,” Morales said. “I couldn’t even see in my room.”

Smoke was everywhere. Morales’ 3-year-old son’s father was disoriented as the toddler sat on a burning couch.

“And I grabbed him,” Morales said, “and my next goal was to get us all out of there.”

Morales is six months pregnant, and she had to jump out of window with her family. The front door of the home was stuck.

Evanston police believe someone threw some type of explosive inside the home – breaking a window near the an alley.

Morales said the explosive went off in her son’s room.

“The sound – the sound was different,” said a neighbor, Celeste. “I mean, was extremely loud.”

A witness said he initially thought he heard thunder, but went outside and heard a mother calling for help from the house. He said the mother was trying to escape out the window and handed him a child.

“That was very terrible. It’s clear as day it’s a kid’s room. There are stickers on the window,” Morales added. “So I don’t know who would do something so terrible. Who would want to hurt a kid?”

It’s unclear what the bomb was made out of. Morales describes it as a “box-like” explosive with a wick at the end.

Her son’s father was the first to hear the glass break and find it.

“He saw the bomb and after that, he went black,” Morales said.

She and her family have lived in the house for years. Police are not indicating if they know who was behind the incident, but on Wednesday afternoon, they said they do not believe it was random.

“I’m thankful,” Morales said. “I’m just thankful we’re here and alive.”

Evanston officials said a total of five people were rescued from the house and treated for injuries.

Police say they have had no prior calls for service that would indicate any type of trouble. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Evanston Fire Marshal’s office are involved in the investigation.

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