Possible University Of Washington Attack Foiled: Man Arrested With Guns, Body Armor, Homemade Bombs

Seattle, WA – A possible University of Washington attack was foiled by authorities last week. The suspect was reportedly armed with homemade firebombs and an arsenal of weapons when he was busted near campus early Thursday.

Justin Jasper, 21, was found in a truck with Molotov cocktails, guns and body armor. The guns and the truck were stolen, according to prosecutors. Additionally, the firebombs appeared to be homemade.

Jasper has since been charged with possessing an incendiary device and for the theft of the weapons and vehicle. He is being held in King County, Washington on $2 million bail.

The motive behind his University of Washington attack plan is a bit harder to determine, but the prosecutors say that Jasper “appeared to be angry about several international political events.”

Investigators reportedly discovered a podcast recording that features Jasper talking about political upheaval in Syria and Brazil and expressing anti-government sentiments.

“There was a sheet of paper that had block, printed letters. It said something to the effect of: Are you aware of the Syrian revolution?” said one investigator. “It was definitely political in nature.”

The truck was actually stolen from a friend named Erik Henderson. Though Henderson had offered Jasper the use of his truck in the past, he never thought the young man was up to no good. He says that Jasper identified as an “anarchist,” but shrugged it off, saying “you hear that from a lot of college-aged kids these days.”

Jasper was also armed with a machete, several knives, and had three Seattle campus maps. His planned University of Washington attack certainly had the potential for maximum human casualties.

[Image via: forest badger / Shutterstock]