When it comes to learning how to making explosives, the Internet has made it a lot easier to learn how, says an RCMP officer with the explosive disposal unit in Halifax.
But Cpl. Ron Robinson said it’s also not safe.
“You think that you’re doing something right and you’re entering into a dangerous situation that could cause injury,” he said in an interview with The Guardian on Friday.
Robinson said with the prevalence of social media and Internet access there is a lot of information available, including videos and tutorials, on how to make explosive devices.
“Basically anything that your imagination can basically come up with. All that information is on the Internet, unfortunately.”
A Google search of “how to make a pipe bomb” turns up more than two million results and asking the search engine “how to make a bomb” returns 198 million results although not all of them involve instructions.
In his own 12 years of experience working in the explosive disposal unit, Robinson has seen a lot of reports from other jurisdictions where things have gone wrong with homemade explosives.
He also remembered one incident in Halifax several years ago during which a boy made a pop bottle bomb that involved mixing chemicals, which leads to pressure build-up and eventually an explosion.
In that case, the boy took it on the bus and the chemicals mixed prematurely.
The bottle exploded releasing toxic fumes and the bus had to be evacuated, Robinson said.
“Not understanding what he had or what he was doing.”
When it comes to learning how to making explosives, the Internet has made it a lot easier to learn how, says an RCMP officer with the explosive disposal unit in Halifax.
But Cpl. Ron Robinson said it’s also not safe.
“You think that you’re doing something right and you’re entering into a dangerous situation that could cause injury,” he said in an interview with The Guardian on Friday.
Robinson said with the prevalence of social media and Internet access there is a lot of information available, including videos and tutorials, on how to make explosive devices.
“Basically anything that your imagination can basically come up with. All that information is on the Internet, unfortunately.”
A Google search of “how to make a pipe bomb” turns up more than two million results and asking the search engine “how to make a bomb” returns 198 million results although not all of them involve instructions.
In his own 12 years of experience working in the explosive disposal unit, Robinson has seen a lot of reports from other jurisdictions where things have gone wrong with homemade explosives.
He also remembered one incident in Halifax several years ago during which a boy made a pop bottle bomb that involved mixing chemicals, which leads to pressure build-up and eventually an explosion.
In that case, the boy took it on the bus and the chemicals mixed prematurely.
The bottle exploded releasing toxic fumes and the bus had to be evacuated, Robinson said.
“Not understanding what he had or what he was doing.”
