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Omaha Steve

(99,660 posts)
Fri May 10, 2013, 11:03 PM May 2013

Texas launches criminal probe into plant explosion

Source: AP-Excite

By ANGELA K. BROWN and RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI

WACO, Texas (AP) - Texas law enforcement officials on Friday launched a criminal investigation into the massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month, after weeks of largely treating the blast as an industrial accident.

The announcement came the same day federal agents said they found bomb-making materials belonging to a paramedic who helped evacuate residents the night of the explosion. Bryce Reed was arrested early Friday on a charge of possessing a destructive device, but law enforcement officials said they had not linked the charge to the April 17 fire and blast at West Fertilizer Co.

"It is important to emphasize that at this point, no evidence has been uncovered to indicate any connection to the events surrounding the fire and subsequent explosion ... and the arrest of Bryce Reed by the ATF," the McLennan County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Texas Department of Public Safety said earlier Friday that the agency had instructed the Texas Rangers and the sheriff's department to conduct a criminal probe into the explosion. The agencies will join the State Fire Marshall's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which have been leading the investigation and never ruled out that a crime may have been committed.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130510/DA66N82G4.html





In this May 2, 2013, file photo investigators move and look through the debris of the destroyed fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Texas law enforcement officials launched a criminal investigation Friday, May 10, 2013, into the massive explosion last month that killed 14 people. (AP Photo/LM Otero, Pool)


15 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Texas launches criminal probe into plant explosion (Original Post) Omaha Steve May 2013 OP
are they saying they think someone started this deliberately? ZRT2209 May 2013 #1
criminal negligence perhaps? hollysmom May 2013 #2
Good. 1983law May 2013 #3
It'd be a hoot if they found out he was, but didn't get the chance. DCKit May 2013 #4
I sure hope this news about Mr. Reed is not true! mc51tc May 2013 #5
West paramedic’s arrest shocks those who knew him mc51tc May 2013 #8
Wow, they're right on the ball aren't they? MADem May 2013 #6
I smell a cover up. Control-Z May 2013 #7
Can someone say scapegoat? itsrobert May 2013 #9
Scapegoat. nt grahamhgreen May 2013 #10
My initial knee-jerk reaction was "Wow! I can't believe this guy did this?" tofuandbeer May 2013 #12
The burglaries sure add an interesting angle Gabby Hayes May 2013 #14
WHAAAAAAAAAAA. Half-Century Man May 2013 #11
Where will the cracks lead? And where is Gerald Hurst? Gabby Hayes May 2013 #13
When I first heard about this Reed fellow, the EMT.... ReRe May 2013 #15
 

DCKit

(18,541 posts)
4. It'd be a hoot if they found out he was, but didn't get the chance.
Sat May 11, 2013, 12:06 AM
May 2013

Stuff found at the guy's home... he's not one of us.

mc51tc

(219 posts)
5. I sure hope this news about Mr. Reed is not true!
Sat May 11, 2013, 12:22 AM
May 2013

But if it turns out to be, just think that he attended and spoke at the funeral in Waco with President Obama and the First Lady in attendance on the stage. Something is rotten in Denmark regarding this tragedy in West.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
6. Wow, they're right on the ball aren't they?
Sat May 11, 2013, 12:29 AM
May 2013


What in hell took them so long?

There were safety violations to beat the band, and federal laws flouted with regard to storage and reporting. People should go to jail for this shit--preferably before they die of old age.

itsrobert

(14,157 posts)
9. Can someone say scapegoat?
Sat May 11, 2013, 01:04 AM
May 2013

If I didn't have faith in the capitalist and political system in Texas, I would think they are setting up this guy as the fall guy instead of negligence of the plant owner and government.

tofuandbeer

(1,314 posts)
12. My initial knee-jerk reaction was "Wow! I can't believe this guy did this?"
Sat May 11, 2013, 02:38 AM
May 2013

Then I thought back on the rich bastard who owns the place, and the lack of restrictions Texas has on businesses...and I'm beginning to think there's more than meets the eye here, too.

Read this as well (I especially like the comments):
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-03/texas-fertilizer-plant-had-long-list-of-break-ins-records-show.html

I found Bryce is a country singer:
http://www.myspace.com/bryceareed

Gabby Hayes

(289 posts)
14. The burglaries sure add an interesting angle
Sat May 11, 2013, 06:07 AM
May 2013

Allowing voluntary adherence to the law (sic) by big polluters and companies like West Fertilizer was Dubya's stated policy when he first took office as governor. Rick Perry continued the same policy. Incidentally, the policy has also resulted in dramatic new mercury warnings regarding certain fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

http://keyetv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/dshs-too-much-mercury-texas-coast-fish-8516.shtml

Half-Century Man

(5,279 posts)
11. WHAAAAAAAAAAA.
Sat May 11, 2013, 01:27 AM
May 2013

1st: Bomb making materials? a wind up clock, batteries and some wire? Somebody in Texas who has black powder or gunpowder? In a state full of gun owners and shell reloaders. Blasting caps, I have known people who had blasting caps, they had an pyrotechnics license (or whatever you call it, it was when I worked in Rochelle Il, at the slaughter house). Kinda vague.

2nd Is someone suggesting an EMT built and held onto a bomb until he could sneak into the fertilizer plant for some nefarious reason? That 270 tons of illegally manufactured and stored explosives is a side note?

Is there mandatory drug testing in Mclennan Co. Texas?

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