A Queens landlord was critically injured Friday when he opened a package that exploded in his hands, police said.
The parcel, left at a home in Brookville, had been sitting on the porch for a week when the landlord, who does not live there, decided to open it, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.
“This was definitely an intentional device,” a police official said. “This was made by hand and it was made as an explosive.”
A police source said the landlord was not the likely target of the explosive, but instead may have been intended for a resident at the home.
“The landlord doesn’t even live there,” the source said. “He stopped by and picked up a package that didn’t belong to him.”
Gray residue from the explosion could be seen on the home’s facade.
The 73-year-old victim suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body, and was in the ICU at Nassau Medical Center.