Charges: Man brought flares, gas to burn U student union

Updated 3:35 p.m. | Posted 2:21 p.m.

Hennepin County prosecutors say a Minneapolis man brought a bag containing gasoline soaked towels, smoke flares and a lighter into the University of Minnesota's Coffman Memorial Union over the weekend.

Jason Robert Johnson, 35, is charged with making terroristic threats and possessing explosives with the intent to damage property and cause injury.

Prosecutors say Johnson admitted to investigators that he left the bag inside the building.

According to the complaint, investigators reviewed security video and found Johnson left the bag near a fireplace inside the student union shortly before noon on Sunday. A university employee found it nearly 12 hours later.

The building was closed Monday while officers conducted a search. University police arrested Johnson Tuesday morning.

The bag held 14 smoke flares with fuses inserted in them wrapped in towels, University of Minnesota Police Chief Matt Clark told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

Clark said the video shows Johnson moving throughout the building for about four hours with multiple bags. That prompted a search of the student union throughout Monday.

"Our concern with closing down [Coffman Memorial Union] was that we did not account for the suspect and the additional bags that he had with him on the surveillance video," Clark explained.

According to the charges, Johnson was suicidal. Clark said Johnson is a former U student and that mental illness is a concern.

Johnson was found at a local motel. He was identified in surveillance video by an officer who had arrested him on prior occasions.

Authorities say Johnson has many prior convictions including felony property damage, burglary and robbery. He's being held in the Hennepin County Jail.

It's not clear how Johnson got access to the building over the weekend.

Said Clark: "If he would've used the lighter to light those fuses in combination with the flares and the accelerant there would've been a large fire."