Sheriff: 'Mother of Satan' explosive found at Florida home

LAKE HELEN, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies and officers with the Lake Helen Police Department are investigating after jars containing a highly volatile substance were found at a home in Lake Helen.

Officials have determined the substance to be the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP). The white crystal powder has been referred to as “Mother of Satan” by terrorist organizations who have used it in deadly attacks around the world, according to a Sheriff's Office spokesman. 

Deputies said that 37-year-old Jared E. Coburn, who lives in the home, said he was using it in the production of homemade fireworks. The jars of explosive materials were found under his bed. There were two jars total, as well as two vials, and one baggie of TATP, which is a highly volatile explosive. There was a total of two homemade explosives and bomb-making paraphernalia with explosive residue.

“He tried to explain to us that he was making his own version of a firework,” Lake Helen Police Chief Mike Walker explained during a news conference early Tuesday evening.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the incident.

“Everybody’s here, because everybody understands how volatile this stuff is,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood told reporters during the briefing.

Coburn is in custody, facing a charge of manufacturing an explosive device, with additional charges possible pending. Authorities say that Coburn has an out-of-state domestic violence charge already and packed parachutes for a living. 

The material was detonated on site, underground in a nearby field, the sheriff said. Seven countercharges were set off in total.