Explosive Materials Found Inside House
By Jeff Todd
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) - Residents in one Castle Rock neighborhood heard two loud explosions on Halloween night as nearly 30 families were forced to evacuate.
Police say the case started early Monday morning when two teens were arrested in downtown Castle Rock. After police had a hard time reaching one set of parents officers went to the home and found "explosive devices."
"That detonation was necessary to protect the public, protect the residents in the area and protect the officers on scene," said Castle Rock Police Chief Jack Cauley.
Twelve hours after the explosive chemicals were found, they were detonated inside a hole on the Plum Creek Golf Course which backs up to the home they were found in.
Castle Rock Fire Rescue and the Douglas County Bomb Squad didn't feel they had adequate resources to handle what was found in the home. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in.
"It's too soon to tell if there are any more explosive devices in there, but the initial cursory search we did we didn't find any other explosive devices," Cauley said Monday night. "One of the juveniles involved had quite extensive knowledge of chemicals."
The evacuation and investigation are expected to last into Tuesday morning. Neighbors told CBS4 they don't know who lived in the home and hadn't seen any teenage kids around it.
"These are devices that were dangerous but required additional manipulation or steps to become actual bombs," Cpt. Darren Weekly with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said.
The parents of the teen are cooperating with police but Cauley said it was too early to know if they could face charges. The teen is already potentially facing charges for the early morning arrest and could see additional charges because of the explosive devices.
"I have not seen the level of sophistication from a juvenile," Cauley said.
The chief emphasized the explosives that were found are not related to any school threats.
"We have not drawn any connection between the juveniles today and any activity or threats at schools," he said.
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
