Officials
say man killed while making bomb
Tuesda05-y,-30, 2006
A Longview man died Monday night while making a bomb he intended to use in retaliation
against federal agents, said local fire officials.James Charles Torrence, 38, who faced possible jail time for multiple federal indictments
from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Drug Enforcement Administration,
died in his North Longview home while putting together one of two homemade bombs.
Fire officials believe Torrence made the bombs to retaliate against authorities with
the ATF and the DEA, whom Torrence believed had built a case against him, according
to Brian Howell, Longview Fire Department’s assistant fire marshal. Documents inside
the home listed names of several ATF and DEA agents, Howell said.The Longview Fire Department responded to Torrence’s home in the 200 block of Rowe
Avenue shortly before 8:30 p.m. The home is about one mile south of Judson Middle
School.Fire officials determined a bomb had exploded inside the home, and agents with the
ATF were called, Howell said.Inside, they found a substance that could be methamphetamine and illegal weapons,
including a machine gun and a pistol with a silencer. A second pipe bomb also was
found.Howell said Torrence had turned one of the home’s three bedrooms into an office and
used the office to build the bombs.While putting the second pipe bomb together, the bomb exploded, instantly killing
Torrence, Howell said.Fire officials took the second bomb to a field behind the home and set it off, Howell
added. Neighbors within a 300 foot radius of Torrence’s home were ordered to evacuate
their homes, Howell said.Torrence’s girlfriend was inside the home but was not injured.
“This could’ve been a lot worse,” Howell said.
It couldn’t have been much better, though.
