Teen who had explosive materials in Moorestown, N.J., did not have plans for attack, police say

Federal authorities are searching for an 18-year-old Moorestown High School student who allegedly used dangerous explosive materials to help fellow students with a science project, police said.

Authorities detonated the materials at two locations, causing alarm and concern for nearby residents.

The teen is not believed to have obtained the materials to commit any criminal acts, Moorestown Director of Police Patrick J. Reilly Jr. said in a phone interview.

Based on the investigation so far, “there’s no threat now. He wasn’t targeting any specific location, any specific person,” Reilly said.

The teen, who turned 18 on Saturday, brought the materials on Thursday to a residence on Cove Road and left behind a briefcase containing goggles, a smock, and gloves, Reilly said.

The teen’s name was not released Monday.

On Saturday, authorities — including the New Jersey State Police Bomb Unit and Hazardous Material Response Unit as well as the Burlington County Hazardous Waste Department — went to the Cove Road residence and found the explosive materials, which they then transported to a nearby public works yard and detonated, Moorestown police said on Sunday.

Authorities executed a search warrant at the teen’s residence on the 400 block of East Oak Avenue on Sunday and found additional explosive materials as part of a makeshift lab in the basement, which were then safely detonated in the backyard, police said.

Some neighbors were briefly evacuated as a precaution, police said.

The teen’s parents were unaware of the materials or lab in the basement, Reilly said.

The explosive materials were sent to an FBI lab for examination, Reilly said. The teen may have been using the materials to make fireworks, but that remains under investigation.

Moorestown High School also was searched but nothing was found, Reilly said.

The teen did not show up for school on Monday and was being sought by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, Reilly said.

Authorities first learned about the situation when a teen girl at a graduation party told her uncle, who is a police officer in Willingboro, Reilly said.

Anyone with information about the situation can call police at 856-234-8300.