Lukas Incident With the Pipebomb

From The Extended Group

Revision as of 04:56, 18 January 2006

The Lukas incident with the pipebomb (aka the rocket incident, the "mad-bomber of Shoreline") took place on January 24, 2002 at the Peter residence in Shoreline. Its seeming significance to those outside the group imortalized the incident within the group.

Origins

Lukas had always had a fascination with explosives and fire since a fairly young age. Perhaps owing to having a chemistry professor as a father, he acquired a more thorough knowledge of explosives than most children his age and was fascinated by things such as nitroglycerin and semtex. His grandfather would also regale him with stories of working for the US Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1930's, as well as his exploits with the US Navy "Seabee's" (Construction Battalion) during World War II. Young Lukas's experiments never went beyond thought experiments and occasionally playing with matches until later in elementary school when the family would purchase 1.4G class C fireworks from local stands. The fourth of July was always a fun time for the family. Fireworks were then outlawed in Shoreline, putting an end to the fun for several years.

In 9th grade, Lukas went on a missions trip to Mexico where fireworks are of course readily available. He smuggled home a dozen bottle rockets as well as some smaller firecrackers and one M-80 salute which was later used to blow up a small snowman. (note: this was in the days prior to the September 11th terrorist attacks and airport security was not as tight, one can be fined up to $500,000 today for smuggling fireworks aboard an airplane)

Lukas experimented with whatever was available at the time, without much success. After his father bought the oxidizer Potassium Nitrate in the form of "Stump Remover" from the hardware store for removing a stump, Lukas set about trying to make his own black powder. Requiring only sulphur and charcoal, Lukas set out to find these items, eventually finding very cheap sulphur at Fred Meyer, and cooking his own willow charcoal on a campstove. Lacking a ball-mill for grinding these ingredients, Lukas was forced to find alternatives. His brother Elias suggested taking a closed container with marbles and ingredients in it and placing it in the clothes dryer in the hopes that the motion would grind the powder fine enough to be usable. The technique proved successful, and soon Lukas was making batches of powder of varying qualities to be used in small firecracker-type salutes.

January 24, 2002

The day was a half-day at Shorewood, and after dining on McDonalds food with Jamie and Andrew Carson, Lukas was bored and looking for something to do. He had been thinking about making rocket engines for model rockets since the store-bought engines were fairly expensive at $7 or so for 3. He had some very slow burning black powder lying around and decided to experiment with that in a closed container. Taking an empty 12 gram CO2 cartridge for a BB gun and putting in some powder, he dug a hole approximately 2 feet deep and placed the charge down there and set it off. When nothing more than a muffled hiss and some smoke arose, Lukas dug up the cartridge and noted that it was still completely intact and the force of the expanding gases from the powder only exited the hole he filled it with. Taking this to be a good sign, Lukas proceeded to re-fill the cartridge with significantly more powder and apply a fuse sealed with model-glue. Taping the contraption to a kebab-stick, he invited his brother Elias to watch. The stick was placed in the ground outside on the grass, but it would not remain standing, so a nearby lawn chair and a length of PVC piping were used to steady the rocket and keep it pointed in an upwards direction. Lukas lit the fuse and watched it burn up to the rocket but fizzle upon reaching the nozzle. After several attempts at re-lighting the short fuse, it was realized that the model glue had ruined the fuse and that it would need to be replaced. After replacing the fuse, Lukas prepared for launch once more.

Applying the match to the new fuse, Lukas dropped the pipe over the top and stepped back several paces. Watching smoke rise from the fuse, the anticipation was building. Suddenly there was a deafening explosion as the pipe seemed to leap into the air and bits of white plastic were launched in all directions. With ears ringing, Lukas turned to Elias who suggested they go inside lest the police arrive. It was only then Lukas looked down to realize there was an oblong hole approximately 3 inches long by 1.5 inches wide in his jeans with blood clearly visible. Lukas ran through the house noting the blood droplets left in his wake and ran to the bathroom. Pulling down his pants, it was suddenly obvious, he had been hit with a piece of metal shrapnel ejected by the exploding casing. There was a hole in the upper-thigh region approximately 3 inches long by 1 inch wide which which exposed severed muscle and a lot of blood running down his leg. In the midst of the wound, the top of the metal canister could be seen. Elias promptly called 911 while Lukas tried to stop the flow of blood with pressure from a washcloth.

The paramedics arrived along with the police in a whirlwind of confusion, asking questions and taking pictures. The paramedics wrapped up Lukas's leg and carried him outside to a waiting ambulance, where it sped him away to Harborview Medical Center. The lead paramedic asked him if his father was going to "kick his ass" for doing something stupid, to which he responded, "I think he'll figure I learned my lesson". Lukas's heart-rate dropped to the mid 50's, probably due to stress and blood loss. As he was being wheeled off the ambulance at the hospital, he spotted a news camera taking footage at a distance, but paid little attention to it. As he was wheeled inside, the paramedics loudly stated that he was the "bomb-victim" causing those in the recieving center to look at him with curiosity. After many tests and examinations, as well as calling his parents, Lukas was taken to surgery that night to have the shrapnel removed. He spent the night in the hospital and was released the next evening.

Aftermath

Lukas learned later that he was featured on the evening news on at least one channel as well as in the Seattle times and PI, as well as the Shoreline enterprise. This lead to some unintended fame, at least among the Shorewood crowd. For months and years Lukas had to endure good-natured ribbing about the incident. Some people Lukas wasnt too familiar with found out about the incident, most likely through friends, or through the news. Counciller Carmella Dellino called Lukas up before his return to school to re-assure him that he was still anonymous, although younger siblings Elias and Cara were both questioned by councillors at their respective schools. Several teachers such as Randy Schnabel and Eric Scaia made half-references to the incident, Schnabel asking Lukas to come forward to his desk "if he could manage it" implying his leg was injured. Later, as Lukas was finishing a mathematics final, Scaia inquired if Lukas was indeed "OK".

Lukas was put on pain medication and antibiotics as he had to have his wound dressing changed twice a day. Muscle-stiffness prevented normal walking, although he tried as hard as possible to go without crutches. The wound closed up after approximately a month of healing, although he had to take it easy on that leg, being forced to abstain from lunch frisbee for a month or so, and was out of shape by the end of that duration.

The legal ramifications took a bit longer to sort out. He could have faced felony charges of explosives manufacture, but had to talk to a King County Bomb Squad detective. A family friend who was a lawyer was called to witness the interview, and the Detective ended up being a very pleasant man. After informing Lukas of the potential seriousness of the issue, he stated that he did not intend to quell Lukas' inquisitive nature, but told him to keep it within the confines of the law next time. With that, the detective did not even take a written statement to take to the judge, but instead dismissed the case right then and there. Lukas came away a free man. The experience has gone down in Shoreline lore.

Trivia

• A King 5 news van arrived on the scene less than an hour after the actual incident, which occurred somewhere between 2:25 and 2:30 PM. Their van remained on an adjacent street, complete with a 30 ft (9 m) broadcasting pole, until after 6:30 PM. During this time, Elias was pressured for an inerview (but declined), and a correspndent for King 5 reported "live on the scene".

• The day after the incident, two delinquent freshman girls, known for smoking at the bus stop, confronted Elias about the previous day. In a bold move, they asked why his brother had "blown himself up with a pipe bomb". Elias quickened his pace saying "that's not what happened", and that he didn't want to talk about it.

• Photographs of the resulting leg wound were brought to Germany, where they were exhibited to various relatives.