By Matt Weiner
Boulder Weekly
FORT COLLINS | A spate of highly consequential – and unusual – crimes occurred at Colorado State University’s Fort Collins campus last week, including an officer-involved shooting and two students arrested for allegedly possessing explosives or an incendiary device.
On-campus shooting
On Monday, Oct. 12, around 5:35 p.m., according to the Eighth Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team, a “CSU Police sergeant responded to a report that a person was acting erratically near Newton Plaza.” The suspect, Brooks Bottenhorn, a CSU student, fired a round of bullets into the west side of the microbiology building.
When officers located the suspect, he advanced toward law enforcement, gunfire was exchanged, and the suspect was hit. An officer rendered first aid and the suspect was transported to a local hospital.
On Oct. 16, the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office charged the suspect with the following: Class 6 Felony – Criminal mischief (1 count); Class 5 Felony – Menacing (1 count); Class 5 Felony – Illegal discharge of a firearm (1 count); Class 1 Misdemeanor – Unlawful carrying a weapon (1 count); Class 1 Misdemeanor – Prohibited use of a weapon (1 count); Class 2 Misdemeanor – Reckless endangerment (1 count).
The investigation remains open.
Explosives: reckless endangerment
According to an affidavit obtained by the Surveyor, police used an arrest warrant to search a CSU housing residence and eventually charged two CSU students with reckless endangerment – a class two misdemeanor – and possession of any explosive or incendiary device – a class five felony.
"I looked up, and eight cops came out (of the stairwell), and it's kind of like a moment of like, 'Whoa, what's going on?'" a CSU freshman told CBS Colorado. "I mean, it's kind of crazy, especially with, you know, the things that happened later that day," the freshman, Anton Trevino, added.
According to the affidavit, on Oct. 12, police responded to a report a Durward Hall housing employee filed about a student resident named Charles Weicher, who “possibly had white phosphorus or napalm.” Used in multiple wars, perhaps most notably the Vietnam War, the National
Library of Medicine defines napalm as a “weaponized mixture of chemicals designed to create a highly flammable and gelatinous liquid.”
The witness, according to the affidavit, told police Weicher showed them the mason jar containing a white substance he said was napalm. The witness also reported that Weicher “has made comments about blowing things up in the past.” A second witness reported Weicher previously told them he “melted a camera with it,” referring to the substance. The jar was located in the ceiling duct, which, according to the report, was near several other dorms, putting other lives in Durward Hall in danger.
Then, on Oct. 12, officers utilized a search warrant and found a glass jar with a sticky substance that was “consistent” with napalm, aluminum powder, black iron oxide natural and “a pipe device consistent with an incendiary type of pipe explosive device (without any substance inside of it.)”
As an officer spoke with a criminalist about “transporting the evidence to his vehicle,” Evan Busch, Weicher’s roommate, flagged the officer down, police say, to ask whether he would also be arrested, according to the affidavit.
Did you have any involvement, the officer asked Busch. Busch said no, and officers didn’t place him in custody at that time. A detective later told the same officer that “Busch had told her that ‘we (he and Weicher) made it’ to
use at Busch’s house in his fire pit.” Busch was present when Weicher previously showed witnesses the jar of napalm that initially sparked the ordeal. After speaking with detectives and consulting with the deputy district attorney, officers found “sufficient probable cause” to arrest Busch. This, in turn, led officers to arrive at dormitory unit 1220 on Thursday, Oct. 15, according to the affidavit, and arrest Busch and transport him to CSU PD.
When officers asked Busch if he wanted to share his side of the story, Busch invoked his right to an attorney. According to the affidavit, officers placed him back in handcuffs and transported him to the Larimer County Jail.
“We recognize that this has been an unsettling week,” Brendan Hanlon, Vice President for University Operations and Chief Financial Officer, said in a statement released Friday, “and that the details that have come out since Monday may have added to that. If you or someone you know could use support, please use it. Students can find counseling and other services through Student Support. Faculty and staff have free, confidential counseling available 24/7 through the Employee Assistance Program.