PROVO, Utah — More than 70 explosive devices were found inside the Orem apartment of a man who had been arrested in the parking lot of a Provo mall on Friday after waving a gun.
The Provo Police Department responded to the Towne Centre Mall at 10:30 a.m. Friday after receiving reports of a man "brandishing what appeared to be a gun," according to a release.
When officers located the man, identified as 41-year-old Eric Whitaker, sitting inside his vehicle in the mall parking lot, they spotted what looked to be improvised explosive devices, prompting the bomb squad to be dispatched to the scene.
Four devices that appeared to be pipe bombs were safely removed from Whitaker's vehicle, while an investigation of the vehicle also found a handgun and ammunition. It's not known if the devices were officially declared to be pipe bombs.
After Whitaker was taken into custody, a warrant served on his apartment found a large number of homemade improvised explosive anti-personnel fragmentation grenade devices. Due to the discovery, the apartment building was evacuated while the Metro Bomb Squad EOD team was called in to remove the devices.
"In total, 71 devices were safely removed from Whitaker’s apartment, along with the various bomb-making materials," the police department said Saturday.
Residents evacuated from their apartments were allowed to return to their homes after four hours.
Whitaker faces 71 charges of Possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction, along with others.
