Two men were arrested for shoplifting items from Walmart that could be used to make an explosive device, Gainesville Police Department said.
On May 7, police interviewed Mason Scott Beuning, 18, for shoplifting BBs, flare guns and other items from a Walmart Supercenter with 18-year-old Wolfe O'Meara, authorities said. Beuning told them he had already made an explosive device or a “homemade firework” but had been scared to detonate it, police said.
Bomb Disposal Team members went to his house and found a cardboard tube containing an black, explosive powder, police said.
"The tube was sealed at both ends and contained a fuse," police said in a statement.
The device was taken for further analysis.
Beuning faces charges including possessing a destructive device, which is a third-degree felony, police said.
O’Meara, who was with Beuning, faces charges with misdemeanor shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia, authorities said.
“In the wake of recent national tragedies, the Gainesville Police Department is taking no chance when it comes to explosives” Police Chief Tony Jones said in a statement.
Beuning remained in jail Monday on a $45,000 bond, while O'Meara had been released on his own recognizance, a jail official said.
It wasn't immediately known if they had attorneys.
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Photo Credit: Alachua County Jail