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Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Residue of Texas City fatal bl

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

July 20, 2006, 5:16PM

Residue of Texas City fatal blast detonated By KEVIN MORAN Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

TEXAS CITY -- Authorities ordered two apartment complexes evacuated and set off a small explosion inside a unit today in an attempt to remove a substance believed to have caused a fatal blast Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT Click to learn more...

In a news conference today, federal and local officials said they believe the substance was peroxide-based.

The explosion Wednesday at the Lakeview complex in the 8000 block of the Emmett F. Lowry Expressway killed a man officials identified as Matthew Rugo, 21.

A second man who survived the blast, Curtis Jetton, has been charged with making a false police report and is being held on $10,000 bond, according to Texas City Police Chief Robert Burby.

Charles Nickson, president of Lakeview Apts, said the complex has 304 units.

In preparation for the planned blast, officials ordered the evacuation of the Oaks apartments and other homes near the Lakeview.

Members of the Galveston County Sheriff's Office were assisting in the evacuations. As authorities prepared to detonate the substances inside the apartment , FBI Special Agent Kasey Salway said he expected the blast would cause cause a minimum amount of damage.

But he added: "This stuff is extremely sensitive to heat, shock and friction...We can't identify exactly what this stuff is." He declined comment on the nature of the investigation.

The FBI refused to say whether it believes the men were preparing some kind of attack.

But Texas City Mayor Matt Doyle said: "If we thought this was a terrorist act, the action would be a lot different than we've seen here today. Certainly, the FBI would have raised the level of security inside the city.''

Salway described the substance as similar to TATP, organic peroxide and a primary high explosive. It takes the form of a white crystalline powder with a distinctive acrid smell and has been described as a weapon of choice for suicide bombers.

TATP can be easily prepared in a basement lab using commercially available starting materials obtained from hardware stores, pharmacies, and stores selling cosmetics, according to the Global Security Web site.

Karen McNair, manager of the 132-unit Oaks apartments, just east of Lakeview, said "We were being very cautious with all the tenants. We were double-checking to make sure that we got everyone out.''

She said about 40 elderly people live in the complex and they were being taken care of.

About 50 evacuees were sent to the College of the Mainland gymnasium in Texas City.

Kenneth Mitchell, 35, a Lakeview tenant, described his morning.

"They knocked on my door this morning about 11 o'clock and said I needed to get out,'' Mitchell said. "I took my dog and didn't have anywhere to go but here.''

Henry Haney, Red Coss shelter manager, said he had been told that tenants may be able to return to their apartments by 7:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the evacuees were lunching on barbecue beef, beans, potato salad and apple coddler.

"We're just providing them a cool place to wait,'' Haney said.

kevin.moran@chron.com

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Front page This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4060134.html

Submitted on 07/20/2006

Submitted by: john trotter
Reference: http://www.chron.com/disp/stor

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Toss: Not Amusing
Whether this was an unsuccessful terrorist-style attack, an attempt to collect insurance, or just a REALLY stupid prank, I don't find this very amusing. Maybe it's the article...Thanks for submitting just the same, John, we DO appreciate it!


Fitzroy said:
Definitely Toss: Not Amusing
I see a huge level of bizarreness here, but little potential for humor as well. I hate to go negative arbitrarily, but this just seems too big and disturbing to the community to be a source of comedy. Still, it does have many elements of a Darwin Award tale, and the submission is appreciated.


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