Police halted train activity for hours after footprints in the snow led officers to an explosive device on a train car on New Year’s Day. The Payette Police Department said it received a report “regarding a suspicious subject” who was seen “attempting to light something on fire” near a parked railroad car in the 600 Block of North 8th Street in Payette.

Officers arriving at the scene just before 6 p.m. found fresh footprints leading to a train car that had a “suspected undetonated improvised explosive device,” also known as an IED, a Payette Police Department news release said.

Payette Police Chief Gary Marshall told the Idaho Statesman that the explosive was a “pipe bomb-style device” made out of polyvinyl chloride plastic, and it was found on a step connected to the outside of the train car.

Further footprints led to a camp trailer parked near a residence in the 600 block, according to police. Officers apprehended Brent Sharrai, 40, of Payette, after a short foot pursuit, police said. Law enforcement from additional agencies arrived at the scene to help handle the explosive, including the Nampa Police Department and one FBI agent. “The Nampa Bomb Squad utilized their specialized robot to remove the IED from the train car and later detonated the device to render it safe,” the Payette Police Department said. Police said they notified Union Pacific Railroad, which put all trains scheduled to travel through the site on standby for five hours.

Sharrai was initially booked into the Payette County Jail on outstanding warrants for recent misdemeanors, according to court records. Police said they obtained a warrant to search the trailer where he was staying and found “items similar to the device found on the train car,” as well as controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. Sharrai was later charged with felony possession of a destructive device, felony possession of a controlled substance, as well as misdemeanors for drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest.

Payette police said further federal charges of possession and manufacturing of a destructive device are pending while the FBI completes its investigation. “According to (Sharrai), he was just trying to make a loud explosion or loud boom,” Marshall said. “He said he did not have any intentions of damaging property or harming anyone.” Marshall said the FBI got involved “based on the state of the nation” and recent acts of terrorism in other parts of the country, including the New Orleans attack on Wednesday that involved a person driving through a crowd after planting explosives in the area.

“Something like this comes up, and there’s concern that it’s something similar,” Marshall said. The police chief said that at this time, law enforcement does not believe Sharrai was working with others. “There was nothing discovered or disclosed by the suspect in this case that would tie him to any kind of terrorist organization,” Marshall said.