A 31-year-old Florida man was arrested for creating homemade weapons using chemicals used for mass destruction. Authorities said they discovered explosive devices and 200 containers of acid, unknown powders, bodily fluids, and other unknown materials inside the home of Christopher Langer, WKMG-TV reported.
County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said that Langer was one step away from making weapons of mass destruction, as the chemicals were similar to the ones used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. "He has all the components in there to make a weapon of mass destruction," Chitwood told WKMG-TV.
Police were responding to a domestic abuse call when Langer told his parents he placed an explosive device inside of a grenade, according to officials. Authorities found Langer outside and intoxicated when they arrived at the scene where they found the grenade.
The police evacuated the home and found bomb-making materials and a Spongebob Squarepants lunchbox designed as a booby trap. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives collected 79 containers that were placed in a containment area.
Chitwood called Langer an anti-government heroin addict and said they had recently saved his life after he overdosed on heroin two weeks ago. Chitwood said the addict wanted to "get even" by harming first responders.
"Two weeks ago, we saved your goddamn life, and now we're here, two weeks later, and you're talking about how you want to blow us all up," Chitwood said.
Langer's parents said they had no idea their son was making homemade bombs. Langer has been charged with making and possessing a destructive device.
This is not the first time authorities have arrested someone for trying to make a bomb from their home. A New York man was convicted in 2015 for attempting to acquire a radiation weapon for mass destruction. Glendon Scott Crawford, 51, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, said he and an accomplice acquired an X-ray device that they planned to use as a "death X-ray." Their goal was to kill "enemies of Israel."
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