Multiple federal agencies are now doing a joint assessment to see if accused Arizona killer Jared Lee Loughner has any possible link to the several fiery packages that were sent to the head of the Homeland Security Department and Maryland state officials last week, The Post has learned.
A federal source said that the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service are sharing evidence to determine if Loughner — who is accused of shooting 19 victims at an event in Tuscon hosted by Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — was involved in assembling and sending the packages, which contained fire-starting materials but not explosives.
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“Intelligence folks are finding [it] odd this all has happened within a few days,” the source said.
On Saturday, in the hours immediately after Giffords was shot through the head and six people were fatally gunned down, authorities did not believe that the 22-year-old Loughner was connected with the packages last week in Washington, DC, and Maryland.
However, federal agencies are now taking a fresh and more scientific look at the packages to see if there is a connection. They hope to either rule Loughner in as a suspect in those explosive cases, or out, within the next two days, the source said.
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Two of the packages were addressed to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and state Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley. On Thursday, when the packages were opened at Maryland state government buildings, the packages ignited and singed workers’ fingers.
Those packages contained messages blasting the state’s highway signs, which encourage motorists to call with tips of “suspicious activity.”
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On Friday, a similar package that had been addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napotilano began smoking and popping, and emitted “a brief flash of fire” before it went out, DC police said, according to the Associated Press.
All three packages have been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Va.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security and FBI issued a bulletin to local law enforcement around the country, giving them an “overview” of Saturday’s deadly shooting rampage in Arizona and information about “lone wolf” attackers, sources told Fox News today.
While the bulletin, issued late Sunday night, said it was too early to determine the motive behind Saturday’s attack, it offered tips for responding to “active shooter cases,” one source said. The bulletin was accompanied by a copy of an in-depth DHS report from 2008, detailing ways to protect against an “active shooter.”
With Newscore