Three students were arrested after police at George Mason University responded to a report of flames shooting out of a dorm room window last week.
Police said they were called to the Jefferson Hall dorm after someone saw the flames. When they investigated the room, they found drug paraphernalia and items consistent with the production of a dangerous device late Wednesday night.
News4’s Northern Virginia bureau reporter David Culver reported that according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Fairfax County court by university police, investigators found a toolbox filled with multiple matchbooks, lighter fluid, hand sanitizer, and candles. He said they also found a PVC pipe in the room.
The investigators said in the affidavit that those items could be combined to “manufacture fire bombs” or make “explosive materials," Culver said.
Three students were arrested on campus. Two are facing drug- and alcohol-related charges, and one is charged with possession of bomb-making materials.
Branden Adoseh, a freshman at GMU, said he watched police collect evidence, bringing out a big container from the dorm room across the hall from his room.
“I had no idea any of that stuff was in there,” Adoseh said. “I mean, I know the people there, and I wouldn’t say that any of them were doing too crazy. But, I had no idea what they had those for.”
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University police said there is no threat to the campus community. Culver said while it was concerning to some students, others were not surprised.
“The fact that it was there and that no one else on the floor was able to catch onto that it was there, I mean that’s concerning,” said Sydney Cano, a freshman at GMU.
“No, (I’m not surprised.) Not this day and age," said GMU freshman Patrick Hare. “People do a lot of crazy things, sometimes in the region of being unsafe.”
Police have not released any details about any possible motives. The identities of the students who were arrested have also not been released at this time.