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   Back-to-back explosions rattled two churches in a New Mexico town Sunday morning, police said. 
   
   No one was injured in either explosion, and damage to each church was "relatively minor," according to a statement from the Las Cruces Police Department. 
   
   Aaliyah Doninguez, 11, holds a sign advising parishioners in Las Cruces, New Mexico, that Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church mass was canceled on Sunday. Robin Zielinski / AP 
   
   A mailbox was blasted at Calvary Baptist Church in Las Cruces, about 50 miles from the Mexico border, around 8 a.m. local time, the police statement said. Parishioners were gathered inside the church at the time of the explosion, but services had not yet begun, the statement said. 
   
   Less than half-hour later, police were called to Holy Cross Catholic Church, about three miles away, where an explosive device had gone off in a trash can near the entrance of the church, according to police. The service at Holy Cross had started, and worshippers were evacuated, police said. 
   
   The churches remained closed Sunday afternoon while multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the nearly-simultaneous blasts, according to police. 
   
   Holy Cross Catholic Church said activities at their adjoining school would be canceled Monday morning. "Please pray for our community," said a statement from the church. 
   
   "Just the fact that they were at churches the same day a half an hour apart or so, that leads us to believe it could be something related," police spokesman Dan Trujillo told the Las Cruces News. Trujillo said police have advised other churches in the area "to be on the lookout for anything suspicious." ||||| No injuries: Devices placed just outside churches in trash can, mail box 
   
   While waiting in a staging area, Holy Cross Catholic Church Pastor John Anderson tries to get in touch with other local churches to warn them of the two explosions that occurred Sunday morning and to be vigilant. (Robin Zielinski Sun-News) 
   
   
   
   
   
   See photos from the scene at Holy Cross Catholic Church and Calvary Baptist Church. 
   
   
   
   LAS CRUCES >> Explosions about a half hour apart shattered the serenity of morning services at two Las Cruces churches Sunday, but caused no injuries and only minor damage, police said. 
   
   The explosions happened at Calvary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Locust, shortly after 8 a.m. and Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1327 N. Miranda, about a half hour later. The explosion at Holy Cross took place in a trash can just outside the entrance of the church as services for the 8 a.m. Mass were taking place. 
   
   Robin Zielinski — Sun-News Holy Cross Catholic Church pastoral associate Elizabeth Behnke informs parishioners of ride arrangements and that their cars must be left at the church until the parking lot is searched on Sunday. 
   
   Monsignor John Anderson had been in the part of the service where communion is passed. 
   
   "I was right in the middle of saying the words 'take and eat, this is my body' and there was a Pow! I mean, I knew it had to be more than a gunshot," he said. "It didn't know if it was a shotgun blast, I didn't know what. But it was very loud and I just kept on saying the words." 
   
   Ann Marie Sullivan, a college student and lifelong parishioner at Holy Cross, described it. "It sounded like something had fallen off and shattered the glass in the back." 
   
   At the end of the Lord's Prayer, the pastor sent a deacon to find out what had happened, and it was reported that a bomb had exploded in a trash can outside the front glass doors, shattering the thick glass. 
   
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   "I had just received communion and had gotten back to my chair when the police came up and said we need everyone to leave out the doors calmly," Sullivan said, saying police told parishioners. "We have it under control but we need you to leave the building." 
   
   Ten minutes later, and it could have been much worse, Anderson said. 
   
   Robin Zielinski — Sun-News Aaliyah Doninguez, 11, stands on North Alameda Boulevard advising parishioners of Holy Cross Catholic Church that Mass is canceled on Sunday. 
   
   "I'm just thankful to God nobody was standing by the door, because there's usually always somebody standing there. But because it was the consecration part of the Mass, everybody was kneeling down and facing toward the altar," he said. "Ten minutes later we would have been leaving and standing around that space." 
   
   At a press conference Sunday night, Gov. Susana Martinez said that only a "coward" would place an explosive device in a church. She vowed that the person responsible would be caught, and urged people to continue to attend church services. 
   
   "Whoever did this will feel the full pressure of the law," she said. "If your intention was to bring fear to those who worship, you have failed." 
   
   Robin Zielinski — Sun-News Las Cruces Police Officer Joseph Campa talks to Holy Cross Catholic Church parishioners on Sunday after an explosion occurred at the entrance of the church during Mass. 
   
   State Police Chief Pete Kassetas said the acts were certainly intended to terrorize churchgoers, but he could not call it an act of terrorism at this time, or even confirm for certain that the two explosions were related. 
   
   The Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad, New Mexico State Police, and an NMSU canine unit are all assisting in the investigation, as are federal officials with the FBI, ATF and Department of Homeland Security, Las Cruces Police spokesman Dan Trujillo said. 
   
   The earlier explosion at Calvary Baptist Church took place in a mailbox on a wall near the administrative entrance to the church, Trujillo said. Several worshippers were gathering inside the church when the explosion happened, but services had not yet begun. 
   
   Jett Loe — Sun-News Las Cruces police block portions of Locust Street in response to an explosion Sunday morning near Calvary Baptist Church. 
   
   "It was a real bomb, I saw all the parts," said Cavalry Baptist member Dennis Llewellyn, who said he was outside the church when the explosive went off. Llewellyn said he was a former special forces member with the Marines and recognized bomb parts that included an Eveready battery. He and fellow church member Mike Stewart kept churchgoers arriving for the 8:30 a.m. service from going into the building during the five to 10 minutes it took for police to arrive. Stewart was the one to notice the debris and damaged mailbox, the two men said. 
   
   Llewellyn described the explosion as loud, and Stewart, who was inside, said it shook the building. Llewellyn said there were about 30 people inside the building when the explosion occurred. 
   
   Kassetas said they were not releasing information on the type of explosive device used while the investigation is ongoing, but said they "were not fireworks" 
   
   "These devices were intended, I believe, to do harm and could have done harm to people." 
   
   Trujillo said had no information yet as to possible motives, but police assume the two blasts are related. 
   
   "Just the fact that they were at churches the same day a half and hour apart or so, that leads us to believe it could be something related," he said. 
   
   "Somebody wanted attention, and somebody wanted to be very destructive against the Catholics, I guess," Monsignor John Anderson said. "I don't know how else to read that." 
   
   "We'll well have to increase the security and have people in the parking lot all the time and have cameras in that gathering area to see who is there at all times. So, well have to be more vigilant." 
   
   Trujillo said police were been contacted by other churches in town asking what they should do. 
   
   "We can't tell them what to do, but we can tell them to be on the lookout for anything suspicious," he said. "Don't go poking around in trash cans or mailboxes. If you have any suspicion of anything that's out of the ordinary, please call to police and leave it up to the officers to look it over." 
   
   During a rally Sunday night at Pioneer Park, faith leaders from throughout the community called for forgiveness and a stronger sense of community. A message was read from Bishop Oscar Cantú in which he expressed thanks that nobody was hurt, and vowed the church services would continue, but with more prudence. 
   
   Sun-News staff members Robin Zielinski, Jett Loe, Lucas Peerman and Sylvia Ulloa contributed to this report. ||||| 
   
   Aaliyah Doninguez, 11, advises parishioners that Holy Cross Catholic Church mass is canceled in Las Cruces, N.M. (Robin Zielinski/Las Cruces Sun-News via AP) 
   
   Three miles and only 20 minutes apart, dual explosions rocked two churches in Las Cruces, N.M., Sunday morning, injuring none but leaving both congregations shaken. 
   
   The incidents are being investigated separately, Las Cruces Police Department spokesman Dan Trujillo said, but with an awareness of the “totality of the day’s events.” 
   
   “It’s unlikely for us to have two incidents like this on the same day 20 minutes apart and have them not be connected,” he told The Washington Post in a phone interview. 
   
   The first explosion, set off by a device planted in a mailbox, went off around 8:20 a.m. just as congregants at Calvary Baptist Church in southern Las Cruces were beginning to gather for the morning’s services. Twenty minutes later a second device exploded inside a trash can outside the Holy Cross Catholic Church just a short drive away, shattering the building’s glass front and startling worshipers in the midst of their morning Mass. 
   
   “I was right in the middle of saying the words ‘take and eat, this is my body’ and there was a ‘Pow!’ I mean, I knew it had to be more than a gunshot,” Monsignor John Anderson told the Las Cruces Sun-News. “It didn’t know if it was a shotgun blast, I didn’t know what. But it was very loud and I just kept on saying the words.” 
   
   Trujillo described the explosive devices as “dangerous, much more dangerous than just fireworks or firecrackers,” and intended to cause harm. But investigators do not yet have more details about what caused the explosions. Nor are they sure why these two churches in particular were targeted — Trujillo noted that Calvary Baptist is on the same street as at least five other churches, none of which were bombed. 
   
   New Mexico State Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating the incidents alongside several local law enforcement agencies. As of late Sunday night they had no information about potential suspects. 
   
   New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) headed to her hometown, a city of about 100,000 just an hour’s drive north of the Mexican border, for a news conference with law enforcement Sunday night. 
   
   “Only a coward would place an explosive device in a place of peace and a place of worship,” she told reporters. “… If your intention was to bring fear to those who worship, you have failed. Our faith is too strong and our fellowship is unbreakable.” 
   
   Asked if the bombings were an act of terrorism, State Police Chief Pete Kassetas responded that he could only say for sure that the explosions certainly provoked terror. 
   
   “But if you’re asking me to put it in a nice, little, neat box to say that I can link this … to any one group or individual, we’re not there yet,” he said. 
   
   Later, in response to a different question, he added, “Someone put some time and effort into this, we believe.” 
   
   The first explosion, at Calvary Baptist, went off outside an administrative entrance on the opposite side of the church from the door where worshipers were streaming in. About 30 people were already inside the building when they heard a loud noise and felt the building shake. 
   
   Church member Dennis Llewellyn, who said he was a former special forces member with the Marines, recognized bomb parts among the debris. 
   
   “It was a real bomb, I saw all the parts,” he told the Sun-News. 
   
   Services were already underway when the second device went off at Holy Cross Catholic Church 20 minutes later, the sound of splintering glass interrupting communion. The pastor finished the Lord’s Prayer, then sent a deacon to investigate the noise. Minutes later police arrived. 
   
   “We have it under control but we need you to leave the building,” they instructed the congregation, college student and lifelong Holy Cross parishioner Ann-Marie Sullivan told the Sun-News. 
   
   None of the roughly 200 people inside the building were injured, though the church’s glass front was destroyed. The congregation was saved by the fact that the explosion happened during the communion; normally someone is posted at the building’s entrance, Anderson told the Sun-News, but everyone had come inside for that part of the service. If the bomb had gone off just 10 minutes later, the church members would have been gathering in the building’s entrance and it’s likely several would have been hurt. 
   
   He added that the church needs to increase its security, adding patrols to its parking lot and cameras to its front entrance in the wake of the incident. 
   
   “Somebody wanted attention, and somebody wanted to be very destructive against the Catholics, I guess,” he told the Sun-News. “I don’t know how else to read that.”
target: – Police are investigating a pair of blasts that rocked two New Mexico churches where parishioners had gathered yesterday morning, though there were no injuries and damage was "relatively minor," authorities tell NBC News. One explosion came from a mailbox outside an administrative entrance to Calvary Baptist Church in Las Cruces at about 8:20am local time, reports the Washington Post. About 30 people had gathered inside and witnesses say they felt the building shake. Twenty minutes later, the pastor at Holy Cross Catholic Church, three miles away, said he heard a "pow" while passing out communion. "I didn't know if it was a shotgun blast…but it was very loud," he tells the Las Cruces News. The bomb exploded in a trash can outside the church's glass front doors, which shattered. "I'm just thankful to God nobody was standing by the door, because there's usually always somebody standing there," the pastor says. "Ten minutes later we would have been leaving and standing around that space." A churchgoer at Calvary Baptist—which is on the same street as several other churches that weren't targeted—says he recognized bomb parts at the scene, including an Eveready battery. A police rep says only that the two devices "were not fireworks" and "were intended, I believe, to do harm and could have done harm to people." Police add the blasts are considered related and authorities have warned other nearby churches "to be on the lookout for anything suspicious." Both churches remained closed yesterday afternoon, while classes at Holy Cross' adjoining school were canceled today.