19-year-old woman arrested after police find explosive devices in backpack
By Sophie Schick
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EVANSVILLE, Indiana (WISH) — A 19-year-old woman has been arrested in Evansville after police say they found destructive devices in her backpack that she wanted to use at her old high school.
On Thursday, an Evansville Police Department officer took Ahnna Tipton to a hospital for an evaluation.
During the intake process, a hospital police officer found a suspicious item in Tipton’s backpack, EPD said in a release. The officer said it looked like a “pill bottle wrapped in duct tape with a matchstick sticking out of the lid” and a piece of cloth attached.
The officer then found a second suspicious item: An aluminum pipe sealed at both ends with duct tape, EPD said Friday. The officer identified what he thought were incendiary materials with a strong chemical odor.
EPD bomb technicians came to the hospital and interviewed Tipton. The technicians say she admitted to constructing the devices, and that she had two more at home.
The EPD Hazardous Devices Unit got a search warrant and found the two devices hidden in modified Monster Energy drink bottles.
EPD officers say in a later interview that Tipton revealed to them that she planned to deploy the devices at the high school she attended — with the intent to hurt others.
As of Friday, Tipton is being held at the Vanderburgh County Jail without bond. She is due in court Friday afternoon.
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