Parrish, Ala. - Authorities from the federal, state, and local levels were working Thursday evening to find and arrest whoever targeted a Walker County man with a car bomb.

Friends, who identified the victim as Frank Williams, Junior, said Williams had gotten into his truck around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday and was leaving his house on Crest Avenue in Parrish when the bomb went off.

"We just heard a big boom," neighbor Shaquille Harris said.  "Then everybody ran outside, and there was Frank's truck.  It blew up."

"We saw him pulling out of the driveway, and he had his door open," Steve Tucker, another neighbor, said.  "And we heard a loud explosion, a boom, and so he hopped out, and his leg caught on fire."

Williams was rushed to a Birmingham hospital.  Authorities said his injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening.

Investigators would not comment publicly on whether a suspect or motive had been identified.  Investigating agencies include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Walker County Sheriff's Office, Alabama State Troopers, and Parrish Police.

Williams was alert and talking after the blast.  Those who heard the explosion said he seemed to understand what had happened.

"He was like, 'They put a bomb up under my truck,' and he told us to get away from it because it might blow up again," Tucker said.

Others said Williams had not moved his truck for a couple of days.  They said he had taken a different vehicle to work earlier on Wednesday.

Williams is known in his community for connecting young people with part-time jobs.  Harris said he last spoke with Williams a few days earlier when he asked Williams if he could borrow a weed-eater for a yardwork project.

"Every summer, us kids around here, we don't got nothing to do, and he'll ask us do we need a job or something?" Harris said.

Neighbors said some people in the community were in fear after the explosion.

"Some people are nervous to crank their car up because they might have the same thing happen to them," Tucker said.

Any fear, however, seems to be overshadowed by concern for Williams.

"He's just a good man," Tucker added.  "He helps everybody out.  I don't know why they did that to him."

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