FT. PIERCE, FL (WPTV/CNN) - A car exploded inside an apartment building. It was driven by a man who police say was targeting a woman inside apartment B.
He put propane tanks on his vehicle Tuesday and purposefully drove it into the apartment, police said.
The driver, 31-year-old Carl Philbert, died at the scene, but everyone in the apartment building, including the woman's 3-year-old child, was able to escape safely.
"He intended to do damage. He raced his car into this apartment where five people were, intending to kill them, blow the place up, or create some kind of havoc," said Ed Cunningham, a Fort Pierce police spokesman.
Thirteen people were displaced by the attack and fire.
Authorities said Philbert and the woman inside the apartment got into a fight Tuesday morning.
"I've never seen anything like that. That was crazy." Kathy Toledo said.
She and her husband saw the immediate aftermath of the crash and a fast-growing fire.
"My husband ran over with a fire extinguisher to try to put the fire out," she said.
Pablo Toledo raced to save an elderly woman gripping the rail upstairs.
"She wouldn't move, like she wouldn't let go of that railing. So I just ran up there and grabbed her," he said.
Chris Garcia was in a next-door unit when the attack occurred.
"I heard the impact. It was pretty hard, shook the house, vibrated the couch, the walls, everything," he said.
He grabbed his wife and children.
"The building is bursting into flames. So I told them, 'No, it's on fire. We've got get out of here,'" Garcia said.
Moments later, while Kathy Toledo was recording a cell phone video, the fire intensified.
"The fire, it just got to where we had to step back, and then a few seconds later, it blew up," Pablo Toledo said.
Authorities said Philbert has a history of domestic trouble with this woman and used this case as a reminder to get help.
"Call the police if there's an issue. Don't let it come to this," Cunningham said.