Feds Seize Missile Launcher In Jersey City
Woman Discovers AT-4 Anti-Tank Device On Front Lawn
Scott Weinberger
Reporting
(CBS) JERSEY CITY A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass.
Niranjana Besai was leaving her house, located at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work just after 8 this morning when she spotted the launcher on her front lawn. "I read it and it [said] 'missile,'" Besai told CBS 2 HD. "There was little 'missile' [writing] on it."
She immediately called police.
Sources tell CBS 2 HD that the device is an AT-4 missile launcher that is used to fire against tanks and buildings. The device was first approved by the U.S. Army in 1985 and questions are being raised as to whether the device was stolen from a branch of the military.
Its very powerful warheads can penetrate through well over a foot of armor, however each launcher can only be used once. The device found on Besai's lawn was said to have been used previously and deemed inoperable.
Investigators are now trying to determine when and even where the launcher had been fired.
Officials initially expressed concern after discovering that Besai's house is located along a flight path for Newark Liberty International Airport.
Residents along Nelson Street were alarmed by the discovery.
Besai's neighbor, Joe Quinn, tells CBS 2 HD he was outside of his home when he noticed Besai pointing at the device from her front porch. When he walked over to see what the fuss was about, he was just as shocked to see weapon, said to be about three or four feet long and weighing about 15 pounds.
"She's pointing that there's something in the front," he told CBS 2 HD. "I said, 'Let me come down and take a look,' and I saw a little soldier on it and I said, 'Whoa, that's a missile launcher or something!'"
Quinn says he originally thought the launcher was just a pipe, but after noticing the picture of the soldier -- which he described as a soldier kneeling, holding the launcher -- he realized it looked similar to a missile launcher he'd seen on television. "I got scared myself," he says. "It looked like a bazooka, and right away you think what does somebody want with something like that?"
Jersey City Police removed the launcher, and the incident is now being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI.
Sources say Besai is not involved in the investigation as a suspect. "I don't think it was hers, they're nice people," Quinn said.
Feds Seize Missile Launcher In Jersey City
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