BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NORTH COLLEGE HILL -- They're becoming known as the "MacGyver bombs," but police say there's nothing heroic about the scientific wonders of the person who set them off.
Chris McKibben, 18, of Betts Avenue, North College Hill, faces six felony charges in connection with homemade bombs found in his neighborhood.
A girl found one of the pop-bottle bombs Monday in Veterans Parkand told her parents -- who told police.
Police called in the Cincinnati Police Division's bomb squad, which detonated one bomb in the park and another at a church. In all, police found five, two of which were active.
Over the course of two days, police say, Mr. McKibben is suspected on six occasions of setting off a total of 20 bombs made of toilet cleaner and aluminum-foil balls inside plastic pop bottles. He faces six counts of unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance. Bond had not been set Tuesday pending arraignment.
Police said Mr. McKibben, who will be a senior this fall at North College Hill High School, said in a statement to them that a friend taught him how to make the bombs.
Police are calling them "MacGyver bombs" after the television show in which the hero used his science knowledge to turn everyday objects into tools to help him out of jams.
In Mr. McKibben's case, police wrote in his arrest report that his goal was to achieve bigger and bigger explosions.
