Two Charged with Murder After Deadly Blast Kills 4

BLACK JACK, Mo. (AP) — Investigators arrested two men on murder charges for allegedly conspiring to manufacture bootleg fireworks in a house near St. Louis that exploded early Friday, killing four people and critically injuring several other people, the Post-Dispatch reported.

The newspaper said 37-year-old Terrell Cooks and 43-year-old Seneca Mahan are accused of purchasing materials to create explosive powder online and allegedly using them to manufacture fireworks, citing the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The materials were loaded into fireworks canisters at the home.

The Post-Dispatch reported that federal investigators saw Terrell Cooks moving boxes of chemicals used to make explosives to his vehicle. They searched another residence and vehicles connected to Terrell Cooks and found “large quantities of completed explosive weapons and components to manufacture them,” police told the newspaper.

The explosion at around 1:20 a.m. destroyed a home near the town of Black Jack. The blast was so powerful that it shook other homes and blew out neighbors’ windows, sending debris more than a block away.

Christopher Jones, 17, was one of the two people who were killed in the blast, the St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s office told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis County police said Friday afternoon that a second person was found dead at the scene. That victim’s name and age were not immediately released.

Four others were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Their names and ages were not released.

The local fire chief, Ankeneth Corbin, told the Post-Dispatch that young people were in the garage making fireworks with explosives.

“If you buy 50 pounds of any explosive, you have just created a bomb,” Corbin said. “The ATF found numerous boxes (of materials) they had ordered online. Electrostatic, anything, can cause a spark.”

Neighbor Nichole Thomas described the scene as “pure chaos.” She said she saw flames engulfing the home and a young boy and others running frantically.

Investigators with the regional bomb and arson squad spent the morning seeking clues in the rubble. The brick home’s garage was leveled and the home itself was a burned-out shell with partial walls standing.