A man is facing charges after police said an improvised destructive device was found in his vehicle across the street from a Maryland middle school on Tuesday.
Baltimore County police wrote in charging documents that once the device was disabled, a test found that it contained materials that in combination are "consistent with a homemade improvised explosive mixture" and an initiation system would allow it to ignite by remote control, The Baltimore Sun reported. The middle school and a nearby elementary school were evacuated Tuesday, but police said in a news release Wednesday that it doesn’t appear that the school was the intended target.
Police found Joseph Vickery, 43, of Mount Airy around the middle school and he reportedly told police there was an "explosive device inside of his vehicle" and admitted to constructing an explosive device, according to charging documents.
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Handwritten bomb-making instructions, fertilizer, and a table-top stove were found in his vehicle, charging documents state. A search of his hotel room allegedly turned up materials used to manufacture explosive devices along with drugs.
Vickery is charged with possession of an explosive or incendiary device with intent to create a destructive device and knowingly manufacturing, possessing or distributing a destructive device and drug and weapons offenses, according to court records. He’s being held without bond and court records do not list any attorney who could comment on his behalf.
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A woman who was also arrested Tuesday told officers that Vickery started researching explosives after a falling out with her mother.
