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Davis: NYC Devices Are 'Step Up In Sophistication' From Marathon Bombs

BOSTON (CBS) -- State Police say "no nexus to Massachusetts has been found" after an explosion in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood and a stabbing attack at a St. Cloud, Minnesota mall that ISIS claimed responsibility for.

In Chelsea Saturday night, a pressure cooker device was found four blocks away from the site of the first explosion. A former FBI agent said Sunday morning that it reminded him of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

In New Jersey Saturday morning, a pipe bomb exploded near a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors in Seaside Park.

"There's a bomber on the loose right now and that's a bad situation to be in for police officials," WBZ-TV security analyst Ed Davis said.

Pressure cooker
Pressure cooker device found blocks away from explosion in New York City (CBS)

Davis was Commissioner of the Boston Police Department when two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. Davis says the detonators used in New York and New Jersey are more complex than those used by the Tsarnaev brothers.

"These things were detonated by cell phones which is a step up in sophistication from the bombings here in Boston," Davis said. "That gives them the ability to detonate from anywhere, it's very troubling."

new york city chelsea explosion
Investigation at the site of an explosion in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images)

Davis says investigators are looking at surveillance video and combing through cell phone records at towers near the blasts.

"Until they wrap these guys up it's dangerous," Davis said.

Ed Davis
WBZ-TV security analyst Ed Davis (WBZ-TV)

In Minnesota Saturday night, an attacker stabbed eight people in an attack that ISIS claimed credit for. The attacker was shot and killed, and none of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.

Gov. Charlie Baker said he had spoken to safety officials in New York and Massachusetts, and that he was thankful nobody was killed in the explosion in Chelsea.

Mass. State Police said the Commonwealth Fusion Center is monitoring information from these events. They also said their bomb squad has been in touch with bomb squads in New York and New Jersey.

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