CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The mother of two North Carolina teens accused of using the same explosive as "shoe bomber" Richard Reid to make an exploding pen turned herself in, police say.
Tracy Bauguess, who Charlotte-Mecklenburg police had sought for 24 hours, surrendered Wednesday afternoon. She faces charges of malicious injury by use of an explosive device, and possession of a weapon of mass destruction, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported.
Police arrested her sons, 16-year-old Jesse Bauguess and his 15-year-old brother, whose name wasn't released, after a Monday incident in which an explosive compound similar to that used by Reid was placed in a pen at a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school for children with discipline problems. It exploded and injured a 15-year-old student in the chest and arm.
It was originally considered a prank, but police say it is a serious matter.
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries Monday while checking out the explosives found at the Bauguess residence in northwest Charlotte, the newspaper said.
"The quantity located was capable of extreme damage and loss of life within the community," Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Robert Fey said.
Reid, linked by authorities to al-Qaida and now imprisoned, tried unsuccessfully to ignite the explosive compound hidden in his shoe while aboard an American Airlines flight in December 2001,
The compound was also used in other terrorist attacks, including the 2005 London subway bombings, and is preferred by radicals because of its potentially fatal effects when detonated.
Jesse Bauguess is being held under $500,000 bond faces charges of malicious use of explosives causing damage to property and causing injury, possession of a weapon on school grounds; and three counts of arson or unlawful burning causing injury to a firefighter.
Charges against his younger brother weren't reported.
