ELKINS – An Elkins man waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Federal Court in Elkins Friday. Jonathon Leo Schrader, 30, was charged with allegedly possessing, concealing and storing stolen explosive materials of one full demolition block and one half demolition block of M112 C-4 plastic explosive.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John S. Kaull found probable cause based on the evidence presented in the criminal complaint, and approved a motion to detain Schrader in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
According to the criminal complaint, Schrader allegedly talked about “detonating C4 explosives in front of the Elkins Federal Court House, also known as the Jennings Randolph Federal Center, and then taking up sniper positions to shoot down first responders following the detonation.”
The complaint also said Schrader “discussed setting off explosions at the Forest Festival at the music performance which draws large crowds to Elkins each year.” Schrader also discussed plans to “blow a hole in the wall of the Davis Trust Bank and steal money.”
Also, the complaint notes a witness said Schrader had “planted a fake pipe bomb near the West Virginia State Police barracks, adjacent to Performance Motors in Elkins in November or December 2014. According to a cooperating witness, this incident was covered in the news and Schrader did it for the primary purpose of gauging law enforcement and first responder times and methods.”
In addition to the FBI, other agencies involved in the investigation include the West Virginia State Police, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Marshals Service, Federal Protective Services, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Forearms, the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service.
