Tennessee authorities find 14 IEDs in man’s home during arrest

Officials in Tennessee found 14 improvised explosive devices in a man’s home while they were arresting him this week on suspicion of threatening officials, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.

Sheriff’s deputies and detectives went to an address Friday seeking to arrest Kevin Wade O’Neal on active warrants. O’Neal was accused of threatening to kill public officials and law enforcement personnel in the county, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

While they were taking him into custody, they noticed something smoldering in the bedroom where they found O’Neal and determined it was an IED, officials said.

Bomb squad officers and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who searched the home found 14 IEDs inside, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives said O’Neal’s plan was to detonate the bombs as law enforcement arrived to arrest him.

O’Neal, 54, faces a slew of charges, including 11 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 14 counts of prohibited weapons and one count of possession of explosive components, the sheriff’s office said.

The attempted murder charges relate to the responding sheriff’s office personnel and two other people who were at the scene, the office said.

The sheriff’s office said O’Neal is being held at Polk County Jail and bond has yet to be determined. It was not immediately clear whether he had legal representation.