Officials says an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded at a Lake Wales, Florida shopping mall Sunday night.

Police are looking for a man who was seen running away from the mall.

The bomb was detonated at the entrance of a JC Penny at the Eagle Ridge Mall.

At 5:22pm the Lake Wales Fire Department responded to the mall, located at 451 Eagle Ridge Drive in Lake Wales, in reference to an alarm call. While enroute the call was changed to a structure fire. Once on scene the fire department located smoke coming from a corridor located next to the mall entrance of JC Penney.

BREAKING: An IED was detonated at a Lake Wales, Florida Mall tonight, Mall has been evacuated. Multiple agencies looking for middle-aged white male, heavy build, wearing a grey shirt and grey hat (person of interest). More devices located in backpack nearby, no injuries – WWSB

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 22, 2018

The fire department discovered an improvised explosive device had been detonated in corridor. They also located a backpack in the same corridor with other possible improvised explosive devices in it. There were no injuries as a result of the explosion but there was damage to a drop ceiling and possibly to the corridor wall.

At 5:30pm the Lake Wales Police Department responded to begin a criminal investigation.

The mall was been evacuated. On scene assisting with the investigation is the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the State Fire Marshall, and the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad. The FBI was also responding.

FLORIDA IED ATTACK:
– Bomb Detonated at Shopping Mall
– At Least 5 More Devices Found
– No Injuries
– Large Manhunt Underwayhttps://t.co/YzW9nvxtYH pic.twitter.com/3kZPJOxzuS

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 22, 2018

Witnesses told detectives they saw a middle-aged white male with a heavy/stocky build running away from the scene. He was wearing a gray shirt and a gray hat before the explosion. He is now considered a “person of interest” in this case.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lake Wales Police Detective Whitney Dukes at (863)678-4223 or Heartland Crime Stoppers at (800) 226-8477.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)