Posted on 12/09/2014 5:11:58 AM PST by Gamecock
CLOVER — Two teenagers were arrested in Clover on Monday after police say the pair confessed to detonating a homemade cannon overnight.
Brandon Campbell, 18, and Justin Ghorley, 19, set off the cannon on the lawn of First United Methodist Church on Elizabeth Avenue around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, prompting several neighbors to call the police, said Lt. Tanner Davis with the Clover Police Department.
When officers arrived, they found debris and damage to the lawn “that appeared to have come from an explosion,” Davis said.
The investigation continued through the morning, and statements from neighbors led officers to a house where police say Campbell and Ghorley confessed to making and firing a cannon.
The cannon was made from welding a steel pipe onto a steel plate. They filled it with gunpowder and drilled a hole for a fuse, Davis said.
“The last time they used it, the plate shattered and came apart,” he said.
The explosion caused minor damage to the church’s lawn. Shrapnel was thrown around, so it was fortunate that no one was hurt, Davis said.
“It was a really bad choice,” Davis said. “They just thought it was cool, but it was really dangerous.”
Both Campbell and Ghorley were charged with two counts each of manufacturing explosives.
As of Monday afternoon, they were both being held at the York County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing.
Without admitting anything, yep. Glad I grew up in an era when 'boys could be boys'.
This is just good clean fun, shouldn’t be a criminal matter. They should have set it off on their own property though.
future convicts.
I remember having just list the fuse of one I built with firecrackers, then looking over and seeing a cop parked on the street watching me.
Statute of limitations ran out long ago.
Dumbass teen alert.
do it on your farm somewhere and not at frickin three a.m.
Those sound more like pipe bombs than cannons.
They could have just ordered some thundermugs and not scattered shrapnel around.
Not a good idea to FILL any cannon with powder and try to fire it.
A kid I heard of wired firecrackers to his sister’s overhead light so when she flipped it on the firecrackers would go off....lol
Alex,
What is “Things I Would Have Done When I Was That Age”?
Give’em a break. There ain’t that much to do down in Clover, SC.
(Although there used to be a good antique car show each summer. Close the main street down for it. Don’t know if they still do that...)
I guess I could have been classified as a future convict.
Lucky for me I wasn’t caught. Have two degrees and just retired from the Army after 27 years of service.
I remember having just list the fuse of one I built with firecrackers, then looking over and seeing a cop parked on the street watching me.
_________________
don’t leave us hanging...
I got chewed out but fortunately those were my last firecrackers. The evidence kinda burned up.
That was in Iowa and the fine was $100 for each firecracker at the time. I was more worried about my Mom than the cop.
>WHEW!<
This is the problem with our society today. These two seem like idiots who thought it would be fun to build and shoot a cannon. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do and perhaps it could have been dangerous, but why in the Hell are they being charged with "manufacturing explosives" as if they were some terrorists? Our society is overly-criminalized.
Yep. Hand 'em a metal detector, make 'em clean up all the shrapnel wearing orange coveralls, and pay for fixing the church. Mebbe a public apology on Sunday...
At the very least, it'll teach them to make better welds, not overload their cannon, and be more discreet...
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