Texas Plant Explosion A Bombing? - Officials open up criminal investigation after man found with 'destructive device'

Drew Zahn * WND

Two events happening on the same day – a West, Texas, man arrested for possession of a “destructive device” and law enforcement officials launching a criminal investigation into the town’s fatal, April 17 fertilizer-plant explosion – have reopened speculation that the deadly blast may have been more than an accident.

Yet thus far, authorities have refused to answer or comment on whether the two events are related.

Bryce Reed, 31, a member of West’s Emergency Medical Services team, was taken into custody at about 2:15 a.m. on Friday and was turned over to federal officials at about 7 a.m. He was scheduled to appear without bond in federal court in Waco, Texas, later Friday morning.

KPRC-TV in Houston quoted unnamed federal sources as saying Reed had asked an acquaintance to store a box for him sometime after the April 17 explosion. The sources said that person decided to look in the box, discovered what appeared to be a pipe bomb and contacted law enforcement officials.

Reed was among West’s most visible residents after the blast, which killed 15 people, injured 200 others and damaged hundreds of homes. He notably assumed command on the radio when he realized his superiors on the EMS team had died in the explosion. He was also quoted in several national media outlets and was among the speakers at the April 25 public memorial for the 12 people killed responding to the fire, the same memorial where President Barack Obama delivered the official eulogy.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports Reed’s LinkedIn profile lists spending time at the U.S. Biological and Chemical Weapon Depot in Ft McClellan, Ala. Reed also lists one year from 2010-2011 as a technician/regional safety officer for Allied International Emergency LLC., where he said response teams dealt with “Weapons of Mass Destruction Response, Nuclear Event Management, Chemical or Biological Weapons Containment, Large Scale Environmental Loss Mitigation, to DOT/EPA small scale spill cleanup.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/texas-plant-explosion-a-bombing-2/#SG167Wf2rex8iHZx.99