Thursday, September 17th 2020, 6:15 pm
Wagoner Police Department said they found several homemade explosives at a home, 300 yards from Wagoner High School.
Police said family members of the man who lives at the house found the explosives and called police. Detectives said family members found a pill bottle, made into an explosive. Detectives said when they searched the house, they found glass bottles, painted black, turned into bombs.
"Immediately thought of a homemade pipe bomb or a homemade explosive,” said Lieutenant Ben Blair with the Wagoner Police Department. “My chief of police was in here and I was like we've got to get out of here now.”
Officers said they found several homemade explosives and homemade weapons at the home. They said the man who lives at the house has a history of mental health issues.
"There were three metro liter sized glass bottles, like Coke bottles, that had been painted black, they had firework mortar shells epoxied to the side of the bottles. The tops of the bottles were sealed off,” said Blair.
Lt. Blair said the man had a mental breakdown earlier this month and fought with officers. He was then admitted to a mental health facility. Blair said the man was supposed to be released this week so his mom wen to his house take his guns away and clean it up, and that’s when they found the explosive.
"The month leading up to that she learned he had stopped taking all his psych meds,” Blair said.
Based on Lt. Blair's military background and his experience with explosives, he said he's concerned what the man's intentions were.
"If he was still in the thought process of learning how to do this, each one of those bottles might have been different, but each of them have the same technique in building them,” Blair said. “It gives us the idea that he's built multiple in the past maybe. People don't just build them for the fun of it.”
Detective Blair said charges are pending. Right now, the man has been ordered by a judge to stay in the mental health facility.
September 17th, 2020
December 1st, 2020
November 30th, 2020
November 17th, 2020
December 13th, 2024
December 13th, 2024
December 13th, 2024
December 13th, 2024