MAN OK AFTER `ACID BOMBS' EXPLODE : TWO SEPARATE ATTACKS REPORTED IN LANCASTER.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

In the second such incident this week, a 19-year-old man escaped serious injury Monday night after two ``acid bombs'' - plastic soft-drink bottles filled with sulfuric acid - exploded outside his home.

Jared Shellhorn suffered minor injuries when he was sprayed by the caustic fluid as he attempted to walk away after finding one of the bottles among rose bushes bordering a front-yard walkway. The second bomb exploded a short distance away.

``It almost knocked me down,'' Shellhorn said of the explosion. ``It swarmed all around me, making me cough and getting into my eyes and face.''

Two days earlier a friend of Shellhorn was the target of a similar acid bomb, which exploded in front of the front door at her home on Staffordshire Avenue, less than a mile from Shellhorn's home on West Avenue K-12.

``The devices are becoming a commonality,'' said arson/explosive detail Detective Jim Gonzales. ``It's easy to make and juveniles have access to the materials.''

Although both intended targets know each other, detectives have not confirmed that the two attacks are connected.

``There is a possibility that the two are related,'' Gonzales said. ``We're still looking into it.''

According to Gonzales, juveniles were spotted around the area of the second incident.

``It's just a piece that has to be looked into,'' Gonzales said. ``At this point no one can say that they are responsible.''

Shellhorn said that he was inside his home around 9:30 p.m. Monday when he heard a noise outside and went to investigate. He found a 2-liter plastic bottle with a clear substance in it among rose bushes bordering a concrete walkway.

``I felt the bottle and it felt warm and very pressurized,'' said Shellhorn. ``It felt as though it was fizzing inside.''

Shellhorn let go of the bottle, and was walking back to his front door when the bottle exploded. A second bottle, placed in rose bushes near the driveway, exploded almost simultaneously.

Shellhorn ran inside his home, and fell on the floor. He said his mother immediately feared he had been attacked by a drive-by shooter.

Shellhorn said the substance made him cough, and stung his eyes. He said he was treated by a family friend, who is a doctor.