Bethesda Teen Bomb Suspect Case Gets Weirder

We've been following the case of Collin McKenzie-Gude, 18, of Bethesda since his arrest last week on charges of making and exploding pipe bombs and illegally possessing firearms. At first glance, the circumstantial evidence that's been piling up paints a pretty weird picture. Here's what's happened so far:

• On Tuesday, July 29, Montgomery County investigators acted on a tip from a concerned citizen and searched the Gude family home on the 6300 block of Rockhurst Road. There they found several assault rifles, two shotguns, one handgun and ammunition. They also recovered 50 pounds of chemicals, several gallons of liquid material and components that can be used to make homemade explosives. The Gude family attorney has said the guns were in a locked gun cabinet unloaded.
• On Wednesday, July 30, Collin McKenzie-Gude turned himself into the police. Gude was at this point charged with possessing guns he was not old enough to own, possession of a destructive device and possession of explosive material. His father, Joseph Gude, 62, was charged with buying guns for his son. The younger Gude was released on $115,000 bond.
• On Thursday, July 31, it was revealed that police had found a list in Gude's home that contained the names and home addresses of many of his teachers from St. John's College High, the D.C. private school from which he had recently graduated. No direct connection was made between the list and the cache of weapons. But Gude was taken into custody once again that day after police also discovered that he had set off several explosive devices with a friend, a minor who has not been identified, in a field in Gaithersburg. The minor had recently worked as an intern at a Montgomery County police district station, and apparently stole police letterhead stationery and used it to obtain items restricted to law enforcement personnel. Gude was additionally charged with five counts of manufacturing, possession, distribution or use of a destructive device.