Suspected Bombs Found in Garage of Schuylkill County Home

Police say they discovered two makeshift bombs at a Schuylkill County man’s home after they were called there for his reported erratic behavior.

Just before 10:30 a.m. Thursday, police were called to a home on Pattersonville Rd. in Union Township. The roommate of Paul Kline, 62, phoned police to say he was acting erratically and had already fired several shots off their porch and one shot in their home.

At the time of the call, Kline was reportedly in the living room surrounded by “numerous firearms,” according to court papers police filed this week The roommate was locked inside the bathroom for fear of what Kline was doing. Police say they maintained contact with the roommate while Troopers established a perimeter around the residence.

As police arrived at the scene, they say Kline was sitting inside a vehicle He then got out of the vehicle and walked to a shed. There, Kline started up a tractor and parked it in the driveway to block police from entering. 

Police say Kline eventually complied with commands to give himself up and he was taken into custody without incident.

Kline’s roommate said he’d been acting unusually recently. The night prior, Kline awoke the roommate to say “there’s gonna be some loud bangs here.” He reportedly said he was going outside because there was a cat on the front porch with chicken feathers in its mouth. The roommate told police they then heard shots fired.

Kline then reportedly came back in the house and handed the roommate a pistol and said they “needed to be safe.” The roommate then hid the gun from Kline but apparently he had others. Later, Kline reportedly told the roommate he wasn’t sure if he’d shoot the cat the through the window or the screen and then a gunshot was heard.

At some point during this incident, Kline allegedly said that he had pipe bombs in the garage. The State Police Hazardous Device Explosive Section unit was brought to the scene. The HIDES unit reportedly found two suspected bombs in the garage: One was a cardboard tube with a green hobby fuse extending from one end of it. Police say it contained what is believed to be “energetic powder” inside the tube. Another was a metal canister that contained suspected energetic powder and also had green hobby fuse coming out of a valve.

Kline was arraigned Thursday night before District Magistrate Judge Edward Tarantelli. Police have charged him with two felony counts of possessing weapons of mass destruction and a felony count of discharging a firearm inside an occupied building. He’s also facing a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge.

Tarantelli set bail at $150,000 cash and Kline was remanded to Schuylkill County Prison. A preliminary hearing is currently scheduled for April 2.

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