California courthouse bombing suspect also charged with arson at other locations

The man accused of throwing a bomb inside a Santa Maria, California, courthouse has also been accused of planning to shoot others inside and committing arson around the building before the incident.

Nathaniel McGuire, 20, was at the Superior Court of California facility on Sept. 25 for arraignment on charges of owning an unregistered gun when, law enforcement and prosecutors allege, he threw the homemade bomb towards the arraignment room.

Five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch also alleged that Mr. McGuire had guns in his car and planned to kill multiple people in the courthouse complex, and that he was the culprit behind a series of fires set around the Santa Maria area in preparation for the courthouse attack.

Mr. McGuire, who is in federal custody, faces federal and state charges.

A search of his car uncovered a shotgun, a rifle, ammunition, another suspected bomb and 10 Molotov cocktails, while a search of his residence uncovered black powder, an empty metal can with nails on the outside, fireworks, a duffel bag full of matches, and papers providing recipes for making bombs, according to federal court documents.

The federal charge of maliciously damaging a building with explosives takes precedence, and if convicted, Mr. McGuire would face a mandatory minimum of at least seven years in prison and up to a maximum of 40 years, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said.

Once that charge is settled, the state charges against Mr. McGuire will proceed.

He is charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count each of the use of an explosive device with the intent to murder, use of an explosive device for the purposes of terrorizing, use of an explosive device causing injury and possession of loaded firearms, and multiple counts of arson with use of an accelerant.

Mr. McGuire is also charged with a special allegation connected to his prior gun charge, as he was out on bail on that charge at the time of the bomb attack.