Explosives

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- West Virginia State Police said Tuesday that there were no explosives in the ground along U.S. 522 Monday, a change in what authorities initially suspected. State police said in a news release issued Tuesday that there were five bore holes and blasting cap wires found Monday at U.S. 522 and Richard Street, near Berkeley Springs High School. Police and fire officials checked the wires again Tuesday and determined that there were no explosives at the bottom of the holes.

After about 2 1/2 hours of careful inspection, rescue officials Wednesday night determined that a suspicious package found at a driveway on Mapleville Road contained some type of blue liquid inside it, a fire official said. “Exactly what it is, I don't know,” said Deputy State Fire Marshal Ed Ernst as authorities were leaving the scene about 10:30 p.m. The package was on the driveway at about 5 to 10 feet from the road, said Terry Stouffer, chief of Mt. Aetna Vol. Fire Co. Stouffer said the package was black, about 1-foot wide and about 1-foot deep, with the word “contaminants” written on it. Authorities were able to rule out any explosives in the package, which was similar to a Rubbermaid container, Ernst said.

HAGERSTOWN -- The case of a man charged with threatening to detonate explosives at a local mobile home park was transferred to Washington County Circuit Court earlier this month. Michael Austin Womack, 34, of 1328 Fairchild Ave. in Hagerstown, was charged in October with arson threats, possession of explosives, reckless endangerment and hazardous substances. The case was filed in Circuit Court on Dec. 16. A witness alleged on Oct. 28 that Womack was looking at a Web site about building bombs, and detonating chemical-reaction devices at the mobile home park, according to District Court records.

marlob@herald-mail.com A Hagerstown-area man facing charges in Virginia of supplying several federal agencies with uncertified bomb-sniffing dogs was indicted last Thursday on charges of shipping explosives through airfreight, witness tampering, wire fraud, and lying to authorities. Russell L. Ebersole was charged in a six-count indictment handed down by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville. Conviction on all counts would carry a maximum of 40 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines, according to a press release from the office of U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee.

Explosives could mean expulsion for teens By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer, Waynesboro GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Two Greencastle/Antrim High School students are facing expulsion from school for bringing a homemade explosive device to school, Principal Jack Appleby said Wednesday. One of the boys made the device to sell to the other, officials said. The students, both 14 and in ninth grade, will be referred to Franklin County juvenile authorities on charges of possession of a weapon on school property for disposition, said Greencastle Police Chief Terry Sanders.

INWOOD, W.Va. - Timothy McVeigh used 4,800 pounds of explosives to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City more than seven years ago. One pound of the same material was enough to blow an old Ford Thunderbird to pieces at the Inwood Quarry Monday afternoon. About 30 police and fire officials from the seven counties in the Eastern Panhandle watched as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms blew up the car. It was the first day of a weeklong course offered by the agency.

Local marshal becomes bomb specialist Former Deputy State Fire Marshal James M. Woods left his local job Wednesday to become a full-time member of the State Fire Marshal's bomb squad, according to a press release. Woods worked for the Western Maryland Regional Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal in Hagerstown. His job was to respond to emergencies involving explosives that arose during his normal fire inspection and investigation duties. "We will miss Jim's professionalism and his energy.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A U.S. District Court jury deliberated for more than six hours Thursday, but did not reach a verdict on 28 counts of wire fraud and making false statements to government agencies lodged against the owner of a Stephenson, Va., business that trains dogs to detect drugs and explosives. Jurors broke off deliberations for the night at 6 p.m. in the case against Russell Ebersole, 43, of Washington County. Prosecutors say he was paid more than $700,000 in 2001 and 2002 by five government agencies, including the State Department and the Federal Reserve, as those agencies tried to provide security for their buildings and employees after the Sept.

The Wal-Mart store at 17850 Garland Groh Blvd. in Hagerstown was evacuated Wednesday night after a threatening letter found in a store office claimed explosives were in the store, a Hagerstown Police Department spokesman said. The letter said explosives were throughout the store and demanded money be taken to a location in The Home Depot store next door, Sgt. Jim Hurd said. The store was closed and was evacuated for no longer than an hour while police searched the building, Hurd said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. - Police on Thursday entered a home in a mobile home park near the northern end of the Charles Town Bypass and found at least five crudely made bombs, a Jefferson County Sheriff's Department spokesman said. Police entered the home about 11 a.m. after someone who had worked on the home noticed something in the home that "caused some alarm," Cpl. R.S. Sell said. That person called police, Sell said. Police obtained a search warrant, entered the mobile home and found large number of shotgun shells wrapped together with a rope fuse coming out of it, Sell said.

Zombies. Giant super-storms. Runaway climate change. Alien invasions. Sneak attacks by invading enemy nations. Thrilling stuff of end-of-life-as-we-know-it science fiction books and movies. But as recent news coverage reminds us - Superstorm Sandy in New York; the fertilizer explosion in Texas; the huge tornado in Moore, Okla.; the train derailment and explosion in Baltimore - ordinary events bring plenty of disasters that can end life as we know it, at least for those affected.

Local law enforcement officials stressed Tuesday the public's role in reporting suspicious activity and talked about what was being done locally in the wake of Monday's bombings near the Boston Marathon finish line. The bombs, which were constructed using pressure cookers packed with material such as metal shrapnel, nails and ball bearings, killed three people and wounded more than 170, the Associated Press reported. “It starts with the public and it starts with that suspicious call, that 911 call,” Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman said.

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a bank robbery that took place Thursday afternoon on U.S. 30, east of Chambersburg near Walmart in Guilford Township, Pa. An unidentified male entered M&T Bank at 1798 Lincoln Way East (U.S. 30) and demanded money from the teller, Trooper 1st Class Chris Ott said in a news release. The man, who got away with an undetermined amount of cash, then placed a package on the teller's counter and “made reference to a bomb,” Ott said. The man fled the bank through the front door and crossed U.S. 30 to the north of the building, Ott said.

A booming noise heard just after 9 a.m. Wednesday was the explosion of a large shop air compressor at a farm off Paradise Church Road, but no injuries or structural damage occurred, a Washington County Emergency Communications dispatcher said. The explosion was reported by several callers, the first at 9:08 a.m., the dispatcher said. The compressor was on a farm at 14014 Paradise Church Road, she said.

After about 2 1/2 hours of careful inspection, rescue officials Wednesday night determined that a suspicious package found at a driveway on Mapleville Road contained some type of blue liquid inside it, a fire official said. “Exactly what it is, I don't know,” said Deputy State Fire Marshal Ed Ernst as authorities were leaving the scene about 10:30 p.m. The package was on the driveway at about 5 to 10 feet from the road, said Terry Stouffer, chief of Mt. Aetna Vol. Fire Co. Stouffer said the package was black, about 1-foot wide and about 1-foot deep, with the word “contaminants” written on it. Authorities were able to rule out any explosives in the package, which was similar to a Rubbermaid container, Ernst said.

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said it collected evidence that it alleges was used to make improvised explosive devices at a residence near Hancock. The evidence was seized early Sunday from a home at 13806 Orchard Ridge Road, according to a fire marshal's office news release. The fire marshal's office said it believes the suspect, whose name has not been released, attempted to make improvised explosive devices in the back yard. The Washington County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene, the release said.

Pennsylvania State Police said they responded to a call of an explosive device that was found Sunday afternoon on Bear Valley Road in St. Thomas Township. The unspecified device was rendered safe by the Pennsylvania State Police Hazardous Device and Explosives Section, according to a news release.

Lee Emeni of Hagerstown might be playing with fire when it comes to welcoming the New Year. "I'm going to visit some friends in Herndon, Va,. because fireworks are legal there, and we can have a good time," said Emeni, 25. "I usually hang out with friends or go out somewhere for New Year's. " Emeni was among area residents who talked about their New Year's Eve plans on Wednesday. He said that every year he usually goes with his first offer when deciding what to do with friends for the holiday.

A 61-year-old man on federal probation for a firearm possession conviction was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court for attempting to make small bombs in his backyard. Larry Junior Whalen of Martinsburg was ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes to serve one to three years and pay court costs as part of a binding plea. The defendant entered a guilty plead under Alford circumstances to one count of attempting to manufacture a destructive device.

A Berkeley County man is accused of manufacturing what he called "cat bombs," bottled concoctions of toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil, to scare stray felines away from his residence. Brian Michael Bailey, 42, of 231 Gordon Drive, Hedgesville, W.Va., was arraigned Tuesday by Berkeley County Magistrate Harry L. Snow on one felony count of illegal possession of destructive devices, explosive material or incendiary devices, according to magistrate court records. Bailey was charged Monday by West Virginia State Police Cpl. L.A. Faircloth after Trooper N.K. Campbell received several complaints about Bailey allegedly making some type of explosive device at his home, according to court records.