Police said they were called to the mall late Friday morning after a bystander reported seeing Eric Whitaker, 41, of Orem, allegedly flashing a gun while driving his car as he and another driver engaged in some sort of confrontation.

Officers scoured the area and located Whitaker, who was allegedly in possession of a handgun, along with multiple magazines containing ammunition for the gun, according to the Provo Police Department.

Whitaker reportedly agreed to let officers search his vehicle, where items that resembled “improvised explosive devices” were found, thus prompting the Metro County Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD, team to be dispatched, police said in Friday’s release.

“Through X-rays, the bomb squad was able to identify that these items were indeed pipe bombs,” Provo Police Chief Troy Beebe told reporters at a news briefing on Saturday. “They were fashioned in a way that they were improvised explosive fragmentation grenades.”

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

Whitaker was arrested, and investigators later obtained a search warrant for his Orem apartment. During that search, bomb-making materials were found, as well as 71 homemade incendiary devices, police said.

The discovery caused officers to evacuate the apartment building while bomb squad technicians removed the devices. 

“The devices contained shrapnel and explosive powders inside that would cause death or serious bodily injury to multiple victims if they were in the vicinity of the device when it exploded,” the police probable cause statement reads.

Beebe said residents from 12 units at the Orem complex were displaced for roughly four hours during the evacuation.

It’s unknown what Whitaker’s intentions may have been for the devices, but police said looking into a motive will be a part of their investigation.

Courtesy Provo Police Department

“I can only say that an improvised explosive fragmentation grenade only has one purpose, and that is to cause mass casualties when it is detonated,” Beebe stated.

Robert Patrick, captain of the Provo Police Department’s investigations division, said they hope to obtain search warrants for Whitaker’s electronic devices for clues to a potential motive.

“I don’t believe it was the worst possible motive. However, I believe there was some culpability that he knew that what he was doing wasn’t correct,” Patrick said. 

He added that the investigation thus far hasn’t yielded any other suspect connected to the bombs or pointed to specific signs of public danger.

Beebe said the incident and subsequent discoveries underscores the importance of public vigilance and the role of the police in maintaining safety.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” he said. “This is a success story in that we were able to intervene quickly and get these items out of the public, get these explosive devices out of the public.”

Whitaker faces 71 charges for suspicion of possession of weapons of mass destruction in addition to the previous charge of suspicion of possession of an incendiary device. 

He’s being held in the Utah County Jail without bail.

The case has been referred to the Utah County Attorney’s Office.

As of Monday, Whitaker has not yet been formally charged with the alleged acts.