FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has obtained exclusive surveillance video of what police say is a teenager stealing potential bomb-making materials.
A Hapeville neighborhood is quiet again after local and federal investigators spent hours searching the home of Alexander Mason, 18, and removing what police say are potentially explosive chemicals.
Police said they went to the teen's home after a motion-sensing camera at a southeast Atlanta warehouse caught the man stealing mercury switches.
"Mercury switches, now, could be harmless, depending on the kind of industrial use for them, but in some cases, they can be used with other materials to make bombs," Atlanta Police Department Sgt. Greg Lyon said.
Mason's father, Allen Mason, allowed investigators to search his house and examine chemicals found inside. Mason says the chemicals are part of his son's chemistry set.
"He's not building bombs. He does a lot of experiments," Mason said. "A lot of them I don't fully understand, but I'm certain he's not making bombs."
The FBI and Hapeville police are investigating, but have not filed any charges against Alexander Mason. He's being held at Fulton County Jail on the charges APD filed in the warehouse burglary.
WSBTV
