Rumson-Fair Haven Grad Found With Bomb-Making Materials, FBI Says

ITHACA, NY — A graduate of Rumson-Fair Haven High School who is now a student at Cornell University was arrested last Thursday after he was allegedly found with homemade bomb-making materials, a bullet-proof vest and a AR-15 rifle at his college apartment in Ithaca, NY.

Maximilien R. Reynolds, of Rumson, NJ, was on a leave of absence from Cornell when he was arrested last week. Ithaca police and FBI agents first went to his apartment after getting an anonymous tip on March 7 from a Walmart employee, who became concerned after Reynolds bought ammo, knives and other "suspicious" items there, according to a report on Syracuse.com.

Reynolds was not there, but his girlfriend let them in. Inside, police said they found the apartment in shambles, with lab beakers and food strewn about, as well as a gas mask, knives and flashlights. There was also allegedly a frightening collection of weaponry, including an AR-15 style assault rifle and containers of chemicals commonly used to make bombs. Mathematical equations in red ink had been scrawled on the apartment's windows.

According to Syracuse.com, this is everything the FBI said they found in Reynolds' apartment:

• An AR-15-style rifle
• A homemade, 10-inch silencer
• A firework mortar round with shotgun-shell pellets taped to it (classified by federal investigators as a bomb)
• Other firework mortar rounds
• More than 300 rounds of live ammunition, including high-capacity magazine clips for the AR-15
• Two sets of body armor
• A metal/steel pipe
• Containers filled with chemicals commonly used to make homemade bombs
• Ball bearings that could be used as shrapnel in a bomb

His girlfriend told police Reynolds had stopped sleeping, was acting "manic," and had stopped taking medication he was on.

Reynolds was on leave from Cornell and was enrolled in nearby Tompkins-Cortland Community College.

Reynolds was arrested last Thursday and agreed to be taken to Cayuga Medical Center for a psych evaluation. He was charged over the weekend in federal court with possessing a silencer; possessing a destructive device; and aiding and abetting the straw purchase of a rifle.

According to NJ.com, an Ithaca resident told authorities Reynolds gave him $1,000 to buy the AR-15 last fall. Reynolds told the man he needed him to buy it Reynolds was prohibited from buying it himself, the affidavit says.

Reynolds' attorney, Raymond Schlather, told the Asbury Park Press that his client was ill.

"All preliminary indications are that the materials and conduct at issue were defensive in nature, arising out of his medical condition, and that no one was under threat or in jeopardy," he said.

Read the full article on the Asbury Park Press: https://www.app.com/story/news...

Syracuse.com: http://www.syracuse.com/crime/...

You can read the entire affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives here: https://www.scribd.com/documen...

Photo via the Rumson-Fair Haven school district website.