USU student releases chemical gas in dorm, prompts mass evacuation hours after FBI terrorism inquiry
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FBI Houston and local authorities have returned to the home of Shamsud-Din Jabbar as they continue their investigation into the deadly shooting in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. (Derek Schock for Fox News Digital)
A Utah State University student has been arrested hours after he was questioned by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force after they said he contaminated his dorm with hydrochloric acid gas and forced a mass evacuation.
Joshua Peter Jager, 20, was arrested Thursday night and charged with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, according to the indictment.
USU officials responded to a fire alarm at Mountain View Tower just before 7:45 p.m. Thursday and found the entire first floor covered in a vaporous substance, later determined to be hydrochloric acid gas, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in 1st District Court.
Utah State University (Utah State University)
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The alarm prompted a “mass evacuation” of everyone in the bedroom and involved EMS, Logan Fire Department, Logan HAZMAT and USU Police, court documents state.
Days earlier, USU police officers responded to the Jagger Mountain View Tower dorm on Monday after a fire alarm went off in the room, according to court documents.
He allegedly told authorities he was boiling water and vinegar to produce the potatoes, but they later found more chemicals — silver nitrate and potassium carbonate — along with machinery, tools and several batteries.
Suspecting that it could be “drugs or explosives,” police called bomb technicians to the scene and removed the chemicals, the statement said. The room was later deemed safe, and Jagger was told to remove all chemicals and stop cooking in the dorm.
Jagger went to the USU Police Department at 11:30 a.m. Thursday and was questioned about the chemicals in the room. He said he had the chemicals for years and never used them to create explosives or drugs.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force joined the interview and questioned him about his “associations with terrorist organizations,” according to the affidavit. He said he made a “mistake” by bringing chemicals into the dorm.
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He was then required by the FBI and a certified peace officer to stop using the chemical and to contact the police if he found any other chemicals in the dorm to have them properly disposed of, court documents state.
During the mass exodus six hours after the FBI questioning, Jagger admitted to turning off the alarm and said he found more chemicals he was trying to “neutralize.”
Cache County District Court Judge Angela Fonesbeck set Jagger’s $2,500 bail Friday morning, according to a court order.
All those who were forced to leave the dorm had to go through the gas, which led to the “contamination problem”.
An FBI agent in a jacket displaying the insignia of the bureau. (iStock)
The initial estimate for cleanup and restoration was approximately $10,000 to $20,000, according to court documents. Labor and overtime costs “realistically” increase the cost.
The university said in a statement Friday that the investigation is ongoing and that “additional charges” may be added.
“USU Housing found gaps in other USU buildings and on the Aggie shuttle bus as student residents waited to find out if decontamination was necessary or to be returned to their rooms in the middle of the night,” the statement said. “The other students didn’t need to be infected.”
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Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Krystin Deschamps sent a message to Mountain View Tower residents that the CARE office is available to assist with academic issues arising from the evacuation.
