A former soldier has been charged with illegally possessing a live anti-tank round at his home in Tacoma, Washington, causing the evacuation of a nearby elementary school and an order for nearby residents to lock down inside their homes.
According to charges filed in Pierce County Superior Court, Tracy Worwood, 44, kept an AT-4 anti-tank rocket at his home, saying it was given to him as a going away present when he left the Army.
Charges state that Worwood claimed he didn't know it was live, and potentially deadly.
The AT-4 is designed to be fired from a shoulder-mounted weapon, penetrate armour, and destroy a tank.
Tacoma police, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and soldiers from a US Army explosives disposal team swarmed around Worwood’s home on Wednesday after federal authorities were notified about the round. According to a probable cause affidavit the projectile, designed to fire from a shoulder mounted weapon and pierce armour, “pierced a 3/5 inch thick steel plate” in a protective container when it was destroyed by a bomb squad.
The discovery of the explosive sparked a massive lock down and evacuation in the neighbourhood where Worwood lives. Students at Sheridan elementary school were hustled onto buses and residents told to stay indoors until it was safe.
The affidavit states
Worwood had the rocket since he left the Army on an "other than honourable" discharge in 2005 and recently put it on his roof for safe keeping after his son found it.
Worwood pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally possessing explosives and reckless endangerment. He was freed without bail.
With news video.
1 comment:
where is the NRA taking up his case to have a right to these weapons?
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