Muslim student shot dead neo-Nazi roommates 'to prevent act of domestic terrorism'

Devon Arthurs, 18, led Florida police to bodies of Jeremy Himmelman, 22, and Andrew Oneschuk, 18

Devon Arthurs (Tampa Police Department via AP)

A Florida man told police that he fatally shot his neo-Nazi roommates because he wanted to prevent a planned act of domestic terrorism.

Court documents filed Tuesday show that 18-year-old Devon Arthurs made the comment to police on Friday after he led officers to the bodies.

Arthurs, who told police he was a recent convert to Islam, said his roommates had disparaged his new religion. He says their behaviour also spurred his actions.

Investigators also found bomb-making materials, Nazi propaganda and a framed photograph of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in the apartment with the bodies.

Also arrested was a fourth roommate, Brandon Russell, an active member of the Florida National Guard who police say admitted to being a neo-Nazi and who gathered the explosives.

Arthurs is due in court on Wednesday morning.

Arthurs is being charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and three counts of armed kidnapping. Court records did not list an attorney for him.

Federal agents arrested Russell, 21, on Saturday on charges related to the explosives.

The FBI said Russell “admitted to his neo-Nazi beliefs” and said he was a member of a group called Atomwaffen, which is German for “atomic weapon.”

Major Caitlin Brown, spokeswoman for the Florida National Guard, confirmed that Russell was a current member of the Florida National Guard. But she couldn't immediately provide any other information.

Arthurs started the chain of events on Friday when he held two customers and an employee hostage at gunpoint at a Tampa smoke shop, police said. He was complaining about the treatment of Muslims.

“He further informed all three victims that he was upset due to America bombing his Muslim countries,” police Detective Kenneth Nightlinger wrote in his report.

Officers talked Arthurs into letting the hostages go and dropping his weapon, and took him into custody.

While in custody, police said Arthurs started talking about killing two people, and then he directed them to a condominium complex where the four roommates shared an apartment.

“I had to do it,” Arthurs told police.

Inside the apartment, the officers found the bodies of 22-year-old Jeremy Himmelman and 18-year-old Andrew Oneschuk. Both had been shot.

Police called in the FBI and a bomb squad, which found enough explosives to constitute a bomb, according to federal agents.

At first, Russell told agents that he kept the explosives from his days in an engineering club at the University of South Florida in 2013 and he used the substances to boost homemade rockets. The agents wrote that the substance found was “too energetic and volatile for these types of uses.”

Russell has been charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device and unlawful storage of explosive material. Court records did not list an attorney for him.

Associated Press