FBI: Explosive device could have caused death

An explosive device allegedly found in a truck driven by Michael Gorbey and parked on Capitol Hill could have caused death or serious bodily injury to people within several feet of it, according to an FBI bomb examiner who testified in court Monday at Gorbey’s trial.

{mosads}“In my opinion, people in close proximity hit by these fragments could be seriously injured and possibly killed,” said FBI Agent Daniel Hickey.

Members of the U.S. Capitol Police bomb squad and the FBI found the device three weeks after Gorbey’s arrest for approaching the Supreme Court building with a loaded shotgun. They say the device consisted of a metal canister, black powder and more than 250 BBs.

Members of the bomb squad rendered the device safe. It was then transferred to FBI laboratories for analysis.

Gorbey faces 14 charges, including manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction. He is representing himself in D.C. Superior Court.

Hickey said that it was difficult to tell exactly what would have happened with the device because of the way it was neutralized by the bomb squad. But he said it was designed to inflict damage and in his opinion was “clearly designed to be an anti-personnel weapon.”

“There would be no other reason to combine these components,” he said.

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) criticized Capitol Police officials last week for not discovering the device for so long. Lungren, ranking Republican on the House Capitol Security subcommittee, said he was disturbed by the delayed discovery and suggested police had performed only a cursory search of the vehicle.