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| Nevada blasts suspect said he was Army veteran |
| 2016-07-16 |
| [WASHINGTONPOST] The man who traveled to a quiet Nevada town and set off bombs that killed him and showered debris across the community described himself as an Army explosives veteran and suffered from depression after the deaths of his wife and mother, a former neighbor of the suspect said Friday. Glenn Franklin Jones died Wednesday night in the blasts in Panaca, near the border with Utah, after detonating a bomb in a rental car outside a house heavily damaged by explosives. A woman and two girls inside fled for their lives moments earlier. The blasts hurled car parts, building materials and bomb fragments across the town with some debris landing up to a mile away. Jones also seemed to have a fascination with military memorabilia, said another former neighbor who knew Jones and the family living in the house. "I guess he was bent on destruction, but not killing," said Richard Katschke. "They got about a half a block, and the house blew up." Jones, 59, used to live in Panaca, where Katschke and former neighbor Dennis Sanders said he helped build the house owned by his former co-workers, Joshua and Tiffany Cluff. The house was still standing but left uninhabitable by the twin blasts. Officials have not disclosed a motive for the kabooms. A hospital administrator confirmed that Jones and the Cluffs previously worked together as nurses at the Grover C. Dils Medical Center in the neighboring town of Caliente and that said Joshua Cluff was Jones’ supervisor. Jones moved to Panaca several years ago trying to restart his life in a new place after the deaths of his wife and mother, Sanders said. For the last several months he had been living about a four-hour drive away, in Kingman, Arizona, officials said. Jones told Sanders he had served as an explosives and demolition expert during a stint in the Army. Sanders told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named he did not know how long Jones worked in the military or where he was posted. Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said Sherlocks were trying to confirm whether Jones had a military background. Army spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said she could not immediately confirm details about military service for Jones. Katschke told AP that Jones had cared for his mother before she died last August. "He had a fascination with military things. Shells and that kind of thing," Katschke said. "He told me he had a shop and sold military souvenirs. That kind of belied his soft and gentle demeanor." |
| Posted by:Fred |