Morris Co. Man Admits To Setting Bomb Off In Lake: Feds

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Morris County man who set a bomb off in a local lake pleaded guilty to several weapons charges in federal court, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.

Christopher Faschan, 31, of the Landing section of Roxbury, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of destructive devices and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. The charges stem from a February incident where Faschan showed off a bomb to a woman outside her Stanhope home, and then detonated it in Lake Lackawanna.

While showing the bomb off at the woman's home, Faschan said, "This may be a good area to let his thing off," and described the bomb as "That's something that could easily be put under someone's car, not that I would do that or anything," Carpenito said

Three days later, Faschan admitted to law enforcement officers that he had detonated the bomb, describing it as a two pound bomb made with several types of chemicals, Carpenito said. Faschan also said he had other bombs; officials say they found explosives, precursor materials, weapons, and ammunition.

Officials say they seized the following guns and ammunitions:

• 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic, Model 5, high-capacity handgun;
• 9mm Fabrique Nationale Herstal semi-automatic handgun, Model FNX-9;
• Mossberg 12-Gauge shotgun, Model 500;
• Savage .22 Caliber long rifle, Model 64;
• Sturm Ruger .22 Caliber handgun, Model Mark 1;
• .556 Caliber ammunition magazine with a 100-round capacity;
• Numerous pistol magazines loaded with 9mm hollow-point rounds.

Officials say they also seized explosive devices and precursor materials:

• Device One, which contained explosive material inside a black container with BB fragmentation, and a green fuse protruding from the device in order to initiate the destructive device;
• Device Two, which contained several containers of lighter fluid affixed around explosive material in the center with a fuse protruding from the device.
• Four plastic containers labeled “exploding targets” containing a substance that appears to be Ammonium Nitrate;
• One package labeled “Thermite” containing separated chemicals;
• One container containing dark-colored powder labeled “Indian Dark;”
• One unlabeled plastic bag containing fine, dark-colored powder;
• One clear plastic container labeled “German Ecartk aluminum powder,”
• One plastic container labeled “Potassium Perchlorate;”
• Three mason jars containing a white substance labelled “KC104;”
• One package of Hobby Fuse;
• Two plastic containers containing sphere-shaped, gray energetic pellets;
• One red and white can labeled “FFg super fine black rifle powder;”
• Thirteen homemade MSeries pyrotechnic devices;
• Four improvised pyrotechnic shot shells;
• One Box labelled “10 flash banger rounds 37MM” containing 17 pyrotechnic shot shells;
• One plastic container containing suspected black powder;
• One plastic container containing dark colored fine powder;
• One bag containing electrical initiators.