| Updated: 2/04 9:21 am |
Published: 2/01 8:56 pm
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The wife of a man arrested for making bombs tells FOX23 why her husband had grenades and explosives in his south Tulsa apartment.
Richard Carter, 41, is in jail on state explosive charges. Federal investigators are trying to figure out exactly what Carter planned to do with the explosives.
"He's not the lunatic, he's not the psychotic person that everybody is saying he is, he's a war veteran who has nightmares about going to kill over 600 people," said his wife.
She didn't want to appear on camera to protect her children. However, Carter’s wife says his four plus years fighting overseas took a toll on him. She says he fought in Desert Storm. He spent four years serving in the Navy and another two with the U.S. Army reserves and retired in 1995.
"He did his job he was trained be military minded, he was trained to go kill people and then told to come back home and act like you did before you left," she said.
Carter was arrested Wednesday night. Tulsa police and federal agents found grenades, homemade bombs and two dozen booby traps in the family's apartment at the Greens of Bedford. Federal agents haven't talked about a motive. Carter's wife believes he was preparing for the worst.
"He gets caught up mentally watching the news and he sees the economy is going to crash, chaos may break out and I think in his mind he was preparing to save his family."
"This individual, we're not sure what his motives are, putting a theory to it is just too premature," ATF Assistant Special Agent Paul Vanderplow.
The couple has been married 19 years. She says her husband was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and is on medication, but says his medication clearly wasn't enough.
"They need help to fit back into society and giving them some pills and sending them on their way is and not following up on these people is not ok," said Carter’s wife.
Carter faces a charge of manufacturing explosives. Federal charges are pending and could be filed, early next week.
