Hagerstown man charged after threat to blow up Maryland MVA

Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:05 p.m. on July 2, 2024, to add information about Fritz's employment tenure with the MVA and bond-related information.

A Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration employee has been charged with making a threat of mass violence after allegedly threatening to blow up his workplace south of Hagerstown, according to the Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Investigators would later search Anthony Jacob Fritz's home in Hagerstown's North End and find 26 guns and 67 containers of ammunition, which were taken into police custody, the release states.

The search of Fritz's home came after investigators were able, under the state's Red Flag law, to get an Extreme Risk Protective Order.

Fritz, 38, faces two misdemeanor charges, with the other being a count of arson threat.

Fritz has worked at the local MVA office for two months, according to court documents.

The Herald-Mail reached out to the office of the attorney who represented Fritz remotely for a bond hearing, but had not heard back by Tuesday afternoon.

Fritz was released Friday on a $10,000 bond, according to his online case docket.

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Around 10:30 a.m. Friday, MVA workers told a Maryland State Police trooper working at the MVA office, at 18306 Col. Henry K. Douglas Drive, that Fritz threatened to employees he was going to bomb the MVA building, the release states.

The trooper, after a preliminary investigation, contacted the state fire marshal's bomb squad and an explosive detection canine team arrived. K9 Rosie searched the MVA. No explosives were found.

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Deputy state fire marshals investigated, consulting with the Washington County States Attorney's Office, and arrested Fritz on a warrant.

Fritz was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation, the release states.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown man charged after threat to blow up Maryland MVA