The Washington state father whose 4-year-old son shot his mother last month now faces more than a dozen other charges after a search uncovered 73 weapons — most of them unregistered and not securely stored — as well as homemade bombs and bombmaking material.
David Neff, 44, was initially arrested on July 15 after the 4-year-old took his handgun out of the holster he was wearing while he was sleeping and shot Neff’s wife while she showered, KOMO reported. The woman suffered a serious injury to her triceps but is expected to recover.
The child suffered a minor cut to his face, which a firefighter on the scene said was apparently caused by the pistol’s recoil when he pulled the trigger.
Neff told deputies that he regularly wore the holstered weapon with a chambered round and that the boy took the gun out of the holster while he slept on the sofa.
Neff was initially charged with unsafe storage of a firearm, but last week authorities filed 14 additional charges, including multiple counts of possession of explosive devices, unlawful firearms, and reckless endangerment.
According to the Lynnwood Times, Neff told deputies that he had 13 registered firearms locked in safes at his home, but a search uncovered 73 weapons, 60 of them not registered to Neff and most completely unsecured.
In one room, police found two unsecured AR-style rifles with loaded magazines. In all, there were 73 weapons scattered throughout the home, including five short-barreled rifles, a bump stock, and more than 10 homemade bombs — tubes filled with black powder, wires, and metal fragments such as screws and nails. Investigators also found large containers of gunpowder, primer, and bullet-making components stashed in the garage.
Overall, bomb squads disassembled eight bombs and detonated others after X-rays revealed their contents and they were found to be too unstable to deconstruct. State officials told deputies that Neff did not have a license to purchase, use, store, or manufacture explosives.
“The danger Mr. Neff poses to this community cannot be understated,” Kristina Beske-Keplinger, deputy prosecuting attorney for Snohomish County, told the court last week in asking for a higher bond, KOMO reported.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was given a $1 million bond.
But perhaps more disturbing was a drawing with Neff’s name on it found in the home. Prosecutors said it “appeared to be a mass shooting of the community [Neff] resides in.”
Although he does not at present face any drug charges, deputies said in court documents they saw drug paraphernalia, including meth pipes, in the home and recovered multiple pills and other drugs on Neff’s person when he was arrested.
