The FBI and Seattle authorities were investigating a Nevada man who was arrested after he was spotted on the University of Washington campus in a stolen truck carrying multiple explosive devices, stolen firearms and body armor, police said Thursday.
The man was arrested a few blocks away after a police pursuit near Seattle Children's Hospital late Wednesday, said John Vinson, chief of the University of Washington police. He gave no further details of the pursuit, but he described the arrest as "high-risk."
Justin Miles Jasper was arrested early Thursday and was being held without bail in the King County jail on suspicion of possessing an incendiary device. Jail records gave no age or hometown for Jasper, but Vinson said the suspect was 21 years old and from Nevada.
Vinson said investigators "have no idea what his intentions are."
Campus police first encountered the man Tuesday when they found him sleeping in the truck, Vinson said. A records check turned up empty, so the man was sent on his way.
Wednesday morning, the truck showed up as having been stolen in Montana, police said, and when it was spotted on campus about 10:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. Thursday ET ), officers gave pursuit.
The man was arrested at an address that is a few hundred yards from Seattle Children's Hospital, police said. Inside the truck, investigators found a stolen rifle with a scope attachment, a stolen shotgun, body armor and multiple incendiary devices, which police described as "very well made" Molotov cocktails.
Asked how many devices were in the truck, Vinson said, "Multiple ... (but) less than 10."
Authorities said they believed there was no longer any threat to the university community, but they said the FBI had joined what they called a "very active criminal investigation."
