Fort Wayne man loses hand in blast, police find bombs

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Updated: January 31, 2012 10:48PM

FORT WAYNE (AP) — Several bombs and bomb-making materials were found at the Fort Wayne apartment of a man suspected of causing an explosion that blew off one of his hands, police said Tuesday.

Police were not releasing the name of the 43-year-old man because he is a suspect in an investigation, Officer Raquel Foster said. She said police do not yet know why he had the materials in his apartment but that he is not believed to be a terror suspect.

Early indications are that explosives are the man’s hobby, Foster said. Police found containers of chemicals and jars and vials of different powders inside the apartment. Foster said authorities were still trying to determine what some of the materials are, but she said authorities do believe they were ingredients to make explosives.

Foster said owning the material is not illegal, but mixing them to make explosives is.

She said the man was in critical condition at a local hospital. She said a teenage child sustained superficial injuries was treated at a hospital and released.

Police believe the explosion 7:14 p.m. Sunday occurred when an explosive mixture the man had made became as hard as a rock and he began using a chisel on it. Foster said the chemical makeup of that mixture remains under investigation.

Neighbor LaTanya Miles said the explosion Sunday sounded like a shotgun blast and was followed by the sound of a smoke alarm.

I was worried,” Miles said. “I thought something’s wrong somewhere.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Fort Wayne police and Allen County prosecutors were investigating.