{"id":459702,"date":"2026-02-07T12:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T12:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/459702\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T12:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T12:37:08","slug":"police-allege-arrested-western-university-students-graduates-were-making-explosives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/459702\/","title":{"rendered":"Police allege arrested Western University students, graduates were making explosives"},"content":{"rendered":"

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London Police vehicles and a London Forensic van at 212 Chesham Place, in London, Ont., on Wednesday.Nicole Osborne\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

It began with a break-in late at night on the Western University campus. <\/p>\n

Campus security was called two weeks ago to the engineering building, where they chased and arrested a man alleged to have been carrying a loaded handgun. <\/p>\n

An investigation then led authorities to a home near campus, where police say they found chemicals<\/a>, firearms and explosives. Three other people were charged, including one alleged to be an accomplice in the break-in. <\/p>\n

Neighbouring homes were evacuated for several days as police teams searched the property for chemicals. Police now say there is no threat to neighbours, who have returned, but they continued to search the home this week. <\/p>\n

The probe expanded to searches in the Ottawa<\/a> area and Gatineau, leading to further weapons charges, as the local police brought in the RCMP\u2019s national security team to assist. And adding to the mystery, a video surfaced this week of one of the accused pitching a truck-mounted anti-drone system. <\/p>\n

On Friday, police alleged that the accused, who they say are all either students at Western or recent graduates, were manufacturing explosives and a gun or several guns, but their motives are unclear and still under investigation.<\/p>\n

Deputy Chief Paul Bastien of the London Police Service told reporters Friday that at the moment, the case does not appear to be of national security concern. <\/p>\n

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Deputy Chief Paul Bastien speaks to the media at Police Headquarters in London on Friday.Nicole Osborne\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point in the investigation this is not a terrorism investigation,\u201d Mr. Bastien said.<\/p>\n

Jerry Tong, 27, faces the largest number of charges. They include break and enter and resisting arrest, as well as possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing an explosive substance. According to a LinkedIn profile matching his name, Mr. Tong appears to have graduated from Western with an engineering degree in 2022 and had been working in finance and banking. He is listed in court documents as residing at an address in Gatineau.<\/p>\n

The others accused, 26-year-old Zekun Wang, 25-year-old Fei (Frank) Han and 21-year-old Feiyang Astrid Ji, are listed as residents of 212 Chesham Place in London \u2013 a few-minutes drive away from campus. <\/p>\n

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Jerry Tong, 27, faces the largest number of charges, including break and enter and resisting arrest, as well as possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing an explosive substance.Screen grab\/None<\/p>\n

Police are not saying how many guns or what types of explosives they have seized in the course of their investigation. None of the allegations have been proven in court.<\/p>\n

In late October last year, Mr. Tong posted a video on YouTube, in which he says that his company is working toward building a truck-mounted anti-drone weapon. Police say the man featured in the video is the same suspect they arrested. <\/p>\n

In the video, Mr. Tong says drones have caused the vast majority of battlefield casualties in Ukraine. His aim, according to the video, is to work with the Canadian Forces or NATO to develop anti-drone weaponry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kill drones before they find you,\u201d the pitch video says. The video includes images of a dark-coloured liquid swirling in a chemistry flask.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our own chemical lab on site capable of synthesizing primary and secondary energetics,\u201d Mr. Tong says.<\/p>\n

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The break-in happened on Jan. 24 at the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion.Nicole Osborne\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The break-in occurred on Jan. 24 at the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion, a 45,000 square-foot, $20-million facility that opened in 2009. Police did not say whether anything was taken from the scene.<\/p>\n

Inside the engineering buildings, signs about biohazards and radioactive materials are affixed to the walls. Posters warn about locking lab doors and transporting chemicals safely. <\/p>\n

Nick Radan, a 21-year-old Western engineering student, says he wishes he knew more about the case. \u201cWhen you hear that there\u2019s guns a few blocks from you, and your building\u2019s closed until further notice you kind of get a little worried,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He recalls being turned away when an engineering building\u200b was shuttered for several hours after the break-in. \u201cYou start thinking about the worst case scenarios,\u201d he said. \u201c It\u2019s the fear of the unknown that blows things out of proportion.\u201d <\/p>\n

A statement from Western University said the university is committed to maintaining a secure environment across campus and in its research facilities. It added that the university works closely with London police and is fully supporting the investigation.<\/p>\n

Chris Reade, a 78-year-old retiree, lives across the street from the rented house where three of the accused live.<\/p>\n

One afternoon this week, he watched London Police Service come and go from the house. Four squad cars and two evidence trailers were still at the scene late this week. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were here this morning to download our Ring doorbell camera,\u201d Mr. Reade said. He added that he and residents of several adjacent houses were told by police to sleep elsewhere in the days after the arrests. \u201cAt first, they said, \u2018You\u2019re in the blast zone.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

The accused are being held in custody. Bail hearings are scheduled for next week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: London Police vehicles and a London Forensic van at 212 Chesham Place, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-459702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}