A volunteer firefighter is being accused of setting off multiple small explosive devices behind a Dundalk elementary school.
Just after midnight on Saturday morning, police received calls about an explosion at Berkshire Elementary School on Poplar Avenue. Members of the Baltimore County Police Hazardous Devices Team responded to the school and found a small package explosion on a bench behind the school.
Similar calls were also received on Monday night. Just before midnight, crews found a charred area and debris near a tree behind Berkshire Elementary School.
Soon after finding the second explosion, an officer canvassing the area says they saw 20-year-old Anthony Dale Reed in the area. They say he was carrying a scanner and identified himself as a volunteer firefighter. Reed was questioned and released at the scene.
Using surveillance footage linked to the first incident, Bomb Technician Officers and Detectives from the Arson Investigation Team worked together and identified the suspect as Reed.
Meanwhile, detectives from Dundalk began working together with the Hazardous Devices Team on a call for a bomb threat on November 15. The caller threatened to activate a destructive device in the Berkshire Community, but none were found on that day.
That investigation also led to Reed as a suspect.
On Tuesday, Reed was arrested and charged with Manufacture/Possess/Distribute a Destructive Device, Possession of Explosive/Incendiary Material with Intent to Create Destructive Device, Second-Degree Malicious Burning, Trespassing on School Grounds, and Threat of Arson.
Reed is being held on no bond pending a bail review hearing.
