Cops found 14 improvised explosive devices inside the home of a Tennessee man who tried to ignite them when they arrested him for making threats against law enforcement, authorities said Sunday.
Kevin O’Neal, 54, was wanted for threatening to kill public officials and law enforcement officers in Polk County, the county sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
“I will die killing you before I take comfort in life surrendering to your wishes,” O’Neal allegedly wrote in a social media post. “I consider it an honor to kill each of you and to give my life in the process of the battle against you.”
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at O’Neal’s residence in Old Fort on Friday and cuffed him, the office said. As they were arresting O’Neal, they noticed something smoldering inside the bedroom where O’Neal had been found.
Authorities quickly cleared the entire residence and called in the bomb squad. Investigators then found the 14 IEDs inside the home, the sheriff’s office said. O’Neal had tried to detonate the devices when officers arrived at the scene, according to police.
The warrants for O’Neal’s arrest were issued on the basis of at least five social media posts he made, according to an affidavit obtained by Chattanooga ABC affiliate WTVC.
In one post, O’Neal called out two men by name, WTVC reported.
“Steve Ross, Josh Stroud you better get your Wiccan Snitch out of my life or you can die with em,” O’Neal wrote.
Ross is the Polk County Sheriff and Stroud is a sheriff’s deputy. Stroud shared news of O’Neal’s arrest on his own Facebook page.
O’Neal was charged with 11 counts of attempted first-degree murder for trying to detonate the devices during his arrest, authorities said. Nine counts were related to officers at the scene and two were related to two civilians inside the home.
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