Tallahassee Man Arrested for Having Bomb-Making Materials in His Apartment
The Tallahassee Police Department has filed criminal charges against a Tallahassee man four months after they say they seized weapons and bomb-making materials from his apartment. Officers began investigating the 31-year-old suspect in March. According to his arrest papers, the Pinecrest Police Department in South Florida tipped off TPD to a threatening post the suspect had made on X (formerly known as Twitter).
In the post, the suspect threatened to kill employees of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. According to his arrest report, Pinecrest PD had prior run-ins with the suspect, but he had since moved to Tallahassee.
Investigators say that they reviewed the suspect’s X account and found posts of him holding firearms. There was also a post about making ammonium nitrate, a common bomb-making chemical.
On March 29, members of TPD’s Tactical Apprehension and Control Team, as well as federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) served a warrant to search the suspect’s apartment complex. During the search, officers evacuated several apartments for close to two hours “out of an abundance of caution.”
According to investigators, they found the suspect in the apartment complex parking lot. He was carrying a backpack that officers say contained “an AR10-style rifle, magazines, and ammunition, a tourniquet, and a ballistic panel.” Authorities say the suspect was also carrying a loaded handgun in a holster on his leg.
Inside the suspect’s apartment, officers say they discovered hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid, two chemicals used in making explosives. Earlier in the day, they found packages for the suspect in the apartment leasing office that contained more sulfuric acid and formaldehyde, another chemical used for making explosives.
Officers report that they seized all of the suspect’s weapons, explosive materials, and his electronic devices as evidence. The suspect was not arrested at the time. Instead, officers obtained a risk protection order against him while they continued to investigate.
Then later, in June, TPD received another tip from the Pinecrest PD. According to the arrest documents, the suspect’s ex-girlfriend told officers that he left her voicemails containing threats to shoot police.
TPD then conducted another search warrant at the suspect’s apartment in July. At that time, officers found a 3D printer and 3D-printed gun parts which they say were not in his apartment when they searched in March. As part of the risk protection order, the suspect was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition of any kind.
On July 3, the suspect was charged with violating the risk protection order. On July 31, police filed a charge of written/electronic threats to harm or kill in regard to the suspect’s X post concerning Pfizer employees.
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