Found With Explosives, Weapons In His Closet, Dunedin ‘Lone Wolf’ Remains In Mental Health Facility

DUNEDIN, FL – Randall Drake, who was arrested for having an arsenal of weapons and homemade destructive devices in his locked bedroom closet, remains in a Pinellas County mental health facility and has not been released. Drake will not be released from the facility "in the near future," according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

What began as a child-porn investigation of the 24-year-old Dunedin man, who lives with his parents, took a jarring twist when investigators discovered the explosives, weapons and aerial maps of Tampa schools and a Hillsborough County water treatment plant, according to officials.

Also reportedly discovered in the bedroom, deputies said, were journals, notes on explosive-making and a handwritten letter that read: "The daughters come, and I am ready. I have fed on my hatred for centuries. My fury at those who imprisoned me shall be vast and without mercy. I shall have my bloody revenge, and then the WORLD WILL BURN BURN."

Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies arrested Drake on two counts of unlawfully making, possessing or attempting to make a destructive device at the home on the 1200 block of Royal Oak Drive North. Detectives tried interviewing Drake, but said he refused to discuss the incendiary devices or his intentions for them.

Authorities said Drake, a former Tampa Police Explorer, has no criminal record, no history of mental health issues and has resided at the home with his mother and father since 2014. Prior to that, he lived in Tampa.

Now, the sheriff's office says Drake is under an involuntary mental health commitment and the proceedings are confidential. A court order has mandated that Drake wear an electronic monitor following his release from the mental health facility. Drake is also prohibited from being within 1,000 feet of any school.

His parents, who previously lived in Tampa, said Drake was home-schooled since the third grade, and his girlfriend reportedly said he was "a nice guy and he's not violent," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.

"His parents said they knew he had some guns but they had no idea about all this," Gualtieri said. "It's reminiscent of what we saw recently in Las Vegas."

"These are the people that are most concerning to us, what we call the 'lone wolves,' the sleepers that are out there, the people who are not on our radar, the people who have fallen under the radar or are off of it. ... You don't know about them until they engage in devastating acts and kill a whole bunch of people," Gualtieri said.

Drake's last job with a New Port Richey gun shop ended in 2015, when he arrived at work wearing a flak jacket and with a gun strapped to his thigh, the sheriff said. "They didn't want him working there anymore after he did that," he added.

Wednesday's alarming discovery began when investigators, assigned to the Crimes Against Children Unit, executed a search warrant at the residence in connection with a child pornography probe which began in January and named Drake as a suspect, officials said. During the search, detectives said they found a closet, with a combination lock, which contained the collection of weapons and three destructive devices.

Members of the Hillsborough County Sheriff Bomb Squad Team, along with representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene.

The Hillsborough bomb squad safely removed from the closet two homemade destructive devices, constructed of metal cylindrical cigar tubes containing gun powder and wicks for detonation and a third device constructed of a plastic tube with gun powder, wrapped in tape and with a fuse, officials said.

Also confiscated from the home were 10 rifles, eight handguns, two shotguns, more than 2,300 rounds of ammunition, a make-shift firearm silencer made from an oil filter, more than 15 knives, a baseball bat with protruding nails, a crossbow, brass knuckles, gun powder and other evidence, deputies said.

A folder with aerial photographs of Essrig Elementary School and Ben Hill Middle School in Hillsborough County, aerial photographs of a water treatment plant in Hillsborough County and several books and handwritten notes documenting how to make explosive devices also were removed from the property, the agency said.

--Images via Pinellas County Sheriff's Office of: Randall Drake Booking photo; weapons found in closet; destructive devices; note found in suspect's bedroom; maps found in suspect's bedroom.