 NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A firework that exploded when a 18-year-old unwittingly stepped on it Sunday in Central Park, seriously injuring his left foot, didn’t appear to be designed to intentionally hurt people, police officials said. Connor Golden, 18, was climbing on rocks near East 60th Street and Fifth Avenue with two buddies — Thomas Hinds, 20, and Matthew Stabile, 18 — when he stepped on the object around 11 a.m., according to police. “I was walking in front of him and suddenly heard this extremely loud explosion directly behind me. He was moaning and saying, ‘Get help.’ ” 
 
 After the incident, the NYPD’s bomb squad was called in to confirm whether it was a firecracker that caused the explosion and not something more sinister. “It is not unusual for the public to make or try to create homemade fireworks around the Fourth of July,” explained Lt. Mark Torre, head of the NYPD Bomb Squad. "Their goal is to make a loud noise, maybe make a flash." They refrained from referring to it as a device. “There is some forensic evidence that indicates that it was not meant go off by someone stepping on it,” Torre said. Golden is a student at the University of Miami in Florida, Hinds attends Northwestern University and Stabile is enrolled at Bard College, Hinds said. We walked up there totally normal, saw nothing suspicious, and then on our walk down, it happened.” 
 
 Sources said Golden was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he would undergo surgery. "We’ve seen a lot of experimentation with homemade fireworks," he said. (Published Monday, July 4, 2016) 
 
 UPDATE: Investigators Test Explosive That Blew Off Part of Man's Leg in Central Park 
 
 An 18-year-old Virginia man had to have part of his leg amputated after he was severely injured in a small explosion in Central Park that investigators suspect was caused by a homemade "experiment" left behind by an amateur or hobbyist. Despite this, he managed to somehow stay alert until EMS arrived. Investigators don’t believe the injured 18-year-old or his friends took part in constructing the explosive. Police said during a late afternoon news conference that they believe the victim and his two friends had nothing to do with the explosive material. They’ve been asking me questions for two hours,” he said. I don’t know what happened,” one of the men told WCBS 880. The commanding officer of the New York Police Department’s bomb squad said Sunday there’s no indication it was made to harm people. “Clearly, I would say this is someone that had knowledge of chemistry, but you don’t have to be anything more than good with computers to get enough knowledge of chemistry to be able to create some of this type of material from readily available materials, unfortunately,” Torre said.
– A group of friends enjoying a morning in NYC's Central Park stumbled onto misfortune Sunday when one apparently stepped on an explosive, severely injuring his leg, the New York Post reports. The FDNY says the explosion happened around 11am at 68th Street and Fifth Avenue, per NBC New York, and a senior law enforcement official tells the station a bag of fireworks was found near the scene, though it's not clear it was a firework that caused the explosion. The Post IDs the 18-year-old who was injured as Conner Golden, who was climbing on rocks in the park with some other pals, all said to be visiting from the DC area. Golden was whisked to Bellevue Hospital and is currently undergoing surgery, with sources saying an amputation looks likely. 1010 Wins reports Golden is in critical but stable condition, via CBS New York. According to John Murphy, another visitor to the park who came upon the scene, it looked like Golden's foot was missing below the ankle. "His left leg was severely damaged, all bone and muscle," he says. "He was in shock. I don't think he even realized what had happened." Cops are trying to determine if the explosion, which witnesses tell the Post could be heard from outside where Elie Wiesel's funeral was being held, was caused by a firework or what the Post calls a "more sinister" device, and if the DC buddies were the ones who may have brought fireworks into the park. "I said, 'Come on, guys, were you carrying fireworks?'" Murphy says. "And they said no. And I believed them. … This wasn't an M80 or a cherry bomb. [This was] something much more serious." NBC notes that section of the park was cordoned off, but the park wasn't evacuated or closed due to the incident.