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Man has weapons and bombs in his Cuyahoga Falls home
By Phil Trexler and Gina Mace
Beacon Journal writers
POSTED: 06:32 a.m. EST, Nov 25, 2009
An explosion inside a Cuyahoga Falls apartment building led police to a weapons arsenal that included more than four-dozen pipe bombs and firearms.
Authorities say the tenant, Mark A. Campano, 56, suffered hand injuries following the Monday night explosion. He is being treated at Akron General Medical Center.
Campano, a former doctor who was stripped of his license in 2006, has yet to be charged with any crime.
The apartment complex of about 20 units was evacuated shortly before midnight.
''It was such a horrible sound, I didn't know what to do,'' said retired school teacher Penny Parker, 62, who has lived in the complex for three years.
''There was a big VROOM. Followed by another VROOM,'' she said. ''It was so horrible. I'm still terrified.''
Falls firefighters initially responded to Campano's Center Avenue apartment building after receiving calls of a massive eruption. After seeing chemicals that could be used to make methamphetamines, police were called.
Police soon discovered the arsenal of weapons.
''It wasn't a clandestine meth lab,'' narcotics detective Sgt. Perry Tabak said. ''It was a clandestine bomb lab.''
Police say they recovered at least 35 homemade pipe bombs, an assortment of 17 firearms and another weapon from inside Campano's car. One weapon was a .38-caliber pistol with a homemade silencer. Other bombs were in stages of construction.
Tabak said bullets were also recovered from the apartment.
''There was tons of ammunition — hundreds of rounds of ammunition,'' he said. ''This was a large stockpile of bombs.''
The Summit County bomb squad and agents with the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms assisted Falls police.
Kim Riddell, an ATF special agent and spokesperson, said the case is in its infancy stages and no determination has been made in terms of charges or jurisdiction.
''We're investigating. We certainly want to know more about why those things would be there,'' she said.
Campano, an anesthesiologist, lost his medical license in 2006, according to documents from the Ohio Medical Board. A history of chemical and alcohol dependency, self-prescribing and relapses dating back to 1989 was cited by the board.
Parker said she didn't know her neighbor, or how long he had lived there.
She said she was watching the QVC channel with her cat when she heard glass breaking and a couple shouting. Soon after, she said, a roar erupted from the apartment down the hall.
Police later knocked on her door, ordering her to evacuate. She wound up spending the night at a hotel.
''I was so afraid,'' she said. ''I thought for sure his entire apartment had blown up.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
An explosion inside a Cuyahoga Falls apartment building led police to a weapons arsenal that included more than four-dozen pipe bombs and firearms.
Authorities say the tenant, Mark A. Campano, 56, suffered hand injuries following the Monday night explosion. He is being treated at Akron General Medical Center.
Campano, a former doctor who was stripped of his license in 2006, has yet to be charged with any crime.
The apartment complex of about 20 units was evacuated shortly before midnight.
''It was such a horrible sound, I didn't know what to do,'' said retired school teacher Penny Parker, 62, who has lived in the complex for three years.
''There was a big VROOM. Followed by another VROOM,'' she said. ''It was so horrible. I'm still terrified.''
Falls firefighters initially responded to Campano's Center Avenue apartment building after receiving calls of a massive eruption. After seeing chemicals that could be used to make methamphetamines, police were called.
Police soon discovered the arsenal of weapons.
''It wasn't a clandestine meth lab,'' narcotics detective Sgt. Perry Tabak said. ''It was a clandestine bomb lab.''
Police say they recovered at least 35 homemade pipe bombs, an assortment of 17 firearms and another weapon from inside Campano's car. One weapon was a .38-caliber pistol with a homemade silencer. Other bombs were in stages of construction.
Tabak said bullets were also recovered from the apartment.
''There was tons of ammunition — hundreds of rounds of ammunition,'' he said. ''This was a large stockpile of bombs.''
The Summit County bomb squad and agents with the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms assisted Falls police.
Kim Riddell, an ATF special agent and spokesperson, said the case is in its infancy stages and no determination has been made in terms of charges or jurisdiction.
''We're investigating. We certainly want to know more about why those things would be there,'' she said.
Campano, an anesthesiologist, lost his medical license in 2006, according to documents from the Ohio Medical Board. A history of chemical and alcohol dependency, self-prescribing and relapses dating back to 1989 was cited by the board.
Parker said she didn't know her neighbor, or how long he had lived there.
She said she was watching the QVC channel with her cat when she heard glass breaking and a couple shouting. Soon after, she said, a roar erupted from the apartment down the hall.
Police later knocked on her door, ordering her to evacuate. She wound up spending the night at a hotel.
''I was so afraid,'' she said. ''I thought for sure his entire apartment had blown up.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Akron, Ohio
Posted 07:04 AM, 11/25/2009
Vroom, vroom.
Akron, OH
Posted 07:09 AM, 11/25/2009
Thank god this happened before he used all of these bombs and guns...
Akron, oh
Posted 07:32 AM, 11/25/2009
What did he want to blow up???
Posted 07:38 AM, 11/25/2009
Wow, in the quaint little town of cuy falls? whoda thunkit?
Posted 08:22 AM, 11/25/2009
JAFA
Angier, NC
Posted 08:45 AM, 11/25/2009
"Lost his medical license in 2006..." planning on a little pay-back, eh?
akron, oh
Posted 08:52 AM, 11/25/2009
Preparing for "IT" to happen.
Posted 09:09 AM, 11/25/2009
Dude probably made $400,000 a year all to throw it away to drugs.
theres more to this story.
Posted 09:31 AM, 11/25/2009
Drugs, a victimless crime!
san antonio, tx
Posted 09:32 AM, 11/25/2009
Sounds like to a rush l. listener.
somewhere near you, US
Posted 10:04 AM, 11/25/2009
"Alcohol dependency" - look what it leads to.
Posted 10:22 AM, 11/25/2009
I wonder if they will be selling the weapons and ammo? I'm sure they will just destroy the perfectly good firearms. What a shame. I would sure like to add them to my arsenal, I mean collection.
Posted 10:42 AM, 11/25/2009
Good thing he blew himself up on accident... seems he was looking to blow someone/thing up on purpose!!!
Akron, Oh
Posted 11:17 AM, 11/25/2009
Nice to hear that no one else was hurt because of this guys secret bomb lab..
But of course ya have to be ready for when
IT hits the fan..
snooze ya lose..
Norka, Oh
Posted 11:19 AM, 11/25/2009
Looks like he was fixin to "anesthetize" someone..
Akron, Oh
Posted 11:20 AM, 11/25/2009
No wonder I am not able to find any ammo.
Posted 11:22 AM, 11/25/2009
"Mark A. Campano, 56, suffered hand injuries"
Awwww ... He'll never play the piano again!
Posted 11:44 AM, 11/25/2009
Hopefully, he won't be able to "build" any more bombs!
Rittman, Oh
Posted 11:52 AM, 11/25/2009
I wonder if we will find out he was just another Islamic criminal, and "not really a terrorist".
Akron, OH
Posted 11:56 AM, 11/25/2009
It sounds like, from the witness description, that he was revving his Harley engine, not making bombs! VROOM VROOOOOOM
Mogadore, OH
Posted 12:28 PM, 11/25/2009
I didn't know that cats watched TV.
Posted 12:40 PM, 11/25/2009
You don't know cats
North Olmsted, OH
Posted 01:09 PM, 11/25/2009
''There was tons of ammunition — hundreds of rounds of ammunition,'' he said."
Wow, "tons" huh? Each round must weigh about twenty pounds.
A few hundred rounds is one good afternoon of target shooting.
Hudson, OH
Posted 01:42 PM, 11/25/2009
with all of the gov't technology - etc - in tracking potential terrorists - I find it really hard to beleive that this guy didn't come up on the radar at sometime - somewhere..... great job Homeland Security.... way to protect our own....
Posted 01:45 PM, 11/25/2009
ABJ commenters- you are the best!
There is certainly more to this story, and I'm glad no one was killed. I really wonder what his planned target was.
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 01:55 PM, 11/25/2009
Sad state of affairs when average (and not so average) citizens are starting to take up arms. This guy is probably certifiable but there are plenty of regular ole' Joes - and Janes - that are packing heat these days. One wonders if they're concerned about defending themselves against criminials.....or "Big Gubment!"
uniontown, oh
Posted 02:01 PM, 11/25/2009
This will be fun to follow. Can't wait for chapter two. Did anyone check the garage? Might be several tons of fertilizer and kerosene and a map to the federal building.
akron, Oh
Posted 03:23 PM, 11/25/2009
i've shot 2,500 rounds off in one day. but yeah, sounds like he was going to take out his frustrations on the guys at the medical review board.
Akron, Oh
Posted 03:44 PM, 11/25/2009
The new sleeper cell- middle aged white men.
Ya he was planning something. Any survivalist worth his ration of crazy knows pipe bombs are an offensive weapon. And a very poor one at that.
Akron, Oh
Posted 03:45 PM, 11/25/2009
um......test
Mogadore, Oh
Posted 03:47 PM, 11/25/2009
To bad he didn't owe back child support, he would have been doing 3-5 years in Summit County instead of making bombs. Those are the ones we really have to worry about.
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 03:58 PM, 11/25/2009
wow....
can i buy the .38 with the silencer ?
akron, oh
Posted 06:21 PM, 11/25/2009
sheila- yeah, me too. something along the lines of the cat watching Letterman. LOL. Dude was getting ready to do some serious damage to someone, glad it backfired on him instead. karma's a Bi^%h
Akron, Oh
Posted 06:26 PM, 11/25/2009
QVC channel, how sad
akron, oh
Posted 08:05 PM, 11/25/2009
Ok folks, we have more than just a drug problem here. Can anyone say "whack job". Talk about losing everything!
akron, oh
Posted 08:11 PM, 11/25/2009
sounds more like an ex-cop...
akron, oh
Posted 08:14 PM, 11/25/2009
one more note ohio leads the nation with people on antidepression meds GO-FIGURE
Posted 10:30 PM, 11/25/2009
He was a White Terrorist lets admit,NOW LETS SEE IF OLD WHITE GUY GET PROFILES
Posted 03:10 AM, 11/26/2009
So you support racial profiling Ty? You think it works?
CuyahogaFalls, oh
Posted 07:01 AM, 11/26/2009
Wow, I sure wouldn't want him for a neighbor. I'm glad I live on the other side of town!
Rittman, ohio
Posted 09:00 AM, 11/26/2009
Um..I wonder when they will get around to charging him with a crime???
Canal Fulton, Oh
Posted 09:51 AM, 11/26/2009
WOW!! This was way to close to our rental!!
I agree with most of you on his reasoning,,probably gonna take it out on his old boss.
Uniontown, Oh
Posted 01:14 PM, 11/26/2009
This guy was definitely screwy upstairs.
An anesthesiologist would have the chemistry and fundamental abilities to produce much more effective devices than pipe bombs!
