ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – A 24-year-old man who police say left a chemical bomb outside a mental health facility Tuesday was arrested after a SWAT standoff at an Atlantic Beach apartment complex.
Christopher Bell is charged with making or throwing a destructive device and three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Bell left a pressurized chemical device at River Point Behavioral Health at 6300 Beach Blvd., where he had been a patient.
Workers inside the facility called police just after midnight Tuesday after a red car pulled up and a package was thrown out of the car through the sun roof.
“He didn't know what he was doing exactly with it, and he didn't assemble it correctly, but had he assembled those items correctly that certainly could have caused some damage and certainly (could have) been a threat to anyone in that general area,” JSO Chief Tom Hackney said.
Police said video from the facility showed Bell get out of the car and duck behind it after the package was thrown.
Bell then went up and left what was later found to be a note on top of the box, police said. They said the video shows him adjusting something in the box, acting like something was about to happen and then leaving after nothing happened.
Police were able to use evidence from the video and the diatribe Bell left to identify him and track him to the Sea Oats Apartments, off Mayport Road, about 10 miles from the facility, Hackney said.
Bell barricaded himself in his apartment unit and SWAT officers evacuated nearby apartments before trying to get Bell to come out, Hackney said.
“(He yelled something) like 'I'm not coming out. You're going to have to take me,'” said Diane Dockter, who lives in the apartment below Bell's. “(He said), 'This is my house. This is my apartment. I'm not coming out.'”
But Bell did come out twice, armed with knives and swords, telling the SWAT and JSO officers that they would have to take his life.
He came back out for a third time, armed with a sword, and took a “Bruce Lee-like” fighting stance before advancing on detectives, Hackney said.
“When he came down the stairs he had what looked like a big baton stick,” Dockter said. “It looks like a round cylinder object, you know, and they told him to get down, and he came out swinging that thing, and that's when I think they took that shot at him, and he landed right there.”
SWAT officer Matt Turner fired his AR-15 rifle once at Bell and missed, and another SWAT officer fired two rounds of rubber bullets, hitting Bell, Hackney said. He was then taken into custody.
Hackney said Bell has had encounters before with Atlantic Beach police in which he also wielded knives.
Bell was previously arrested for marijuana possession in December and subsequently Baker Acted. The police report said Bell was found dancing on the beach, wrapped in duct tape and acting bizarrely. Police found marijuana in his car, and he admitted he'd eaten mushrooms, according to the report.
Hackney said it appears from the diatribe Bell left behind at the mental health facility that Bell he been treated at River Point Behavioral Health, but Hackney did not say when that treatment occurred. Hackney said Bell wrote a rambling statement complaining of his treatment at the facility and problems with staff.
The staff and patients at the facility were not evacuated Tuesday but were relocated to a secure area in the building while the bomb squad investigated the package.
The facility released a statement Tuesday about the incident:
"Fortunately, there were no injuries to any of the patients or staff, which was River Point Behavioral Health's No. 1 concern. The staff and administration of the hospital are fully cooperating with authorities in their investigation and will continue to do so until its completion. We appreciate the exceptional responsiveness of the local law enforcement and JSO to ensure the safety of our facility and community."
Beach Boulevard was closed for two blocks between Ryar and Hickman roads. The road reopened just before 6 a.m.
Some residents at Bell's apartment complex were allowed back in their homes after he was taken into custody, but Hackney said those who live in units surrounding Bell's will not be allowed to return until Bell's apartment is cleared by SWAT members.
“Now I am nervous as to what he has been doing up there for a whole month above me, you know, trying to make bombs and stuff,” Dockter said.
Turner, the officer who fired at Bell and missed, has been a SWAT officer for six years and Tuesday's incident was the first time he's fired his weapon, police said.
He will not be placed on administrative leave because he did not hit Bell when he fired, Hackney said.