Overview
- The investigation began Monday after a landlord’s call led Irvine police and the Orange County Fire Authority to a rented Altair community home, where officers found a homemade science lab and signs of fire.
- The FBI’s Evidence Response Team and Hazardous Evidence Response Team have led on-scene work since Monday with local agencies, and a National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team was also deployed.
- Irvine police say a juvenile at the residence mixed unknown chemicals, and authorities report no evacuations, injuries or arrests as specialists continue methodical testing.
- An anonymous source told the Orange County Register that chemical equations on a whiteboard heightened concern and prompted consultation with FBI headquarters experts in Quantico, with the case described as involving a University of California student.
- The family’s attorney told NBC4 the focus is a 17-year-old in his fourth year at a local college who posts chemistry videos, calling the probe a mischaracterization, while a chemist who reviewed the videos said the experiments appeared potentially dangerous but showed careful precautions.