Man who posted explosive videos injured in home blast

CLAREMONT, N.C. — A man who recently posted videos of himself setting off explosives is in a hospital after an explosion and fire at his home.

He posted a video on Facebook where he offered to make items, authorities said.

Neighbors describe hearing explosions in the yard recently.

Investigators backed out of the home after learning that information.

There were bomb technicians with the ATF and SBI, along with a bomb-sniffing dog, searching around the home on Wednesday afternoon.

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Millie Stroud lives nearby and heard several explosions on Wednesday morning before seeing flames 10-15 feet above the home.

“What I heard was in the house because it exploded and shook the whole house, Stroud said. “Flames shooting out of the top of the house. I couldn’t understand why it happened.”

Amber Shook is thankful she’s alive after the explosion rocked her bedroom on Shook Road north of Claremont.

Her husband was airlifted to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after flames tore through their mobile home in a matter of minutes. She spoke about the explosions and whether her husband’s explosives were involved.

“It was loud,” Shook said. “It threw me from the middle of the bed to the floor. And I didn’t realize I was burnt. He’s always messing with stuff, it’s hard telling.”

Shook said she wasn’t sure what caused the explosions. Investigators were looking into the possibility that explosive devices may have been inside the home.

They executed search warrants on the residence and vehicles in the driveway, hoping to learn more about what happened here.

“We are aware of some social media posts that speak to explosives,” said Maj. Aaron Turk, with Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. “We are working to corroborate or refute if those are accurate.”

Earlier Wednesday, Channel 9’s Dave Faherty confirmed there was no gas running to the home.

Faherty did not have an update on the condition of Shook’s husband.

Their 14-year-old daughter and a grandmother managed to escape without being injured.

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