Recipe for Disaster – Teens Making Homemade Bombs
May 9, 2008 by national
Filed under Stories of Interest
13 Investigates an explosive issue: Dangerous chemicals in the hands of teens. The FBI says it can’t stop kids from getting a recipe for disaster. But with public support authorities can help keep teens from creating a deadly mix.
It’s a new homegrown threat prompting a wake-up call for parents and businesses. Behind pimples and “peach fuzz” are teens accused of terrorist acts. Some set off home-made bombs, while others are facing charges for plotting deadly attacks.
Jeff Muller, the Assistant Section Chief in the FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, wants parents to understand an important fact up front.
“The information is out there,” he said emphatically.
A few recent cases are good reminders.
Two Indianapolis teens on spring break in Savannah, Georgia are caught on tape carrying volatile chemicals behind a pool/patio store.
The video shows 17-year-old Kenneth Smock as he puts a container on a manhole. His 17-year-old friend, Taylor Sandlin, fuels the mix.
It’s an internet recipe for disaster and creates a cooked-up bomb that explodes in minutes.
Just up the map, 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger had ten pounds of ammonium nitrate delivered to his parents’ door. Police say the teen planned to blow up his high school in Chesterfield and had all the ingredients to get started.
“It’s the same substance Timothy McVeigh used in Oklahoma City, if that gives you an idea of how volatile that is,” said Chesterfield Police Chief Randall Lear, describing the explosive components police found.
Schallenberger had just a fraction of what McVeigh concocted, but enough to tip off his parents to potential trouble. They turned him in.
“Ten pounds could take out, certainly take out a classroom,” said Donald Sachtleben, an FBI Bomb Technician with the Indianapolis FBI Field Office.
