TAMPA \u2014 A St. Petersburg man is facing a federal charge after investigators say he made threats involving an explosive device following a recent incident at MacDill Air Force Base.<\/p>\n
According to a federal criminal complaint filed in the Middle District of Florida, Jonathan James Elder is charged with making a threat by means of fire or an explosive, in violation of federal law.<\/p>\n
– Advertisement –<\/p>\n
The charge stems from events that began on March 16, 2026, when law enforcement responded to a suspicious package outside the Visitor Control Center at MacDill Air Force Base. Authorities determined the package contained possible energetic materials, prompting a large response and the closure of roadways and the base\u2019s main entrance for several hours.<\/p>\n
Two days later, on March 18, a caller contacted MacDill\u2019s main phone line and made statements referencing the earlier incident. According to the affidavit, the caller asked, \u201cHow did you like the surprise at the MacDill Visitor Center?\u201d and then stated, \u201ctick tick boom, it\u2019s gonna be between your eyes,\u201d before hanging up. Investigators interpreted the statements as a threat to detonate an explosive. The call led to a temporary lockdown of the base, with personnel instructed to shelter in place for approximately four hours.<\/p>\n
Investigators also obtained a recorded call tied to the same phone number. In that call, the caller stated: \u201cDid you enjoy your pipe bombs at the front gate of MacDill\u2026 oh\u2026 is there anything else I can do for you\u2026 (unintelligible)\u2026 that\u2019s why I said that you entitled little [expletive]\u2026 now I told you if you try to [expletive] with my meds again, I told you this last year, if you try to [expletive] with my meds I will [expletive] torture you\u2026 well you tried it again, so here you, you don\u2019t learn, I will beat you in the face 10,000 times harder, you will get a pipe bomb that actually explodes in your [expletive] face next time\u2026 [expletive] you pigs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators said the call was received shortly before the call made to MacDill and was later linked through phone records and cell-site data. Authorities traced the phone to an assisted-living facility in St. Petersburg. A Facebook account associated with the number used the name \u201cJon Elder,\u201d which investigators linked to Jonathan James Elder.<\/p>\n
Authorities located Elder at the facility later that day. According to the complaint, he initially refused to speak with law enforcement but was later taken into custody. After being advised of his rights, investigators say Elder admitted to calling MacDill Air Force Base and referencing a \u201cpipe bomb,\u201d though he described his statements as meaningless.<\/p>\n
The affidavit also states that Elder had previously been identified as a person of concern during a 2025 threat assessment and had a history of involuntary mental health commitments under Florida\u2019s Baker Act.<\/p>\n
Following his arrest, Elder consented to a search of his phone. Investigators reported that his internet history showed he had read news coverage about the March 16 incident and searched for MacDill Air Force Base\u2019s phone number prior to the call.<\/p>\n
Mental health evaluators later determined Elder met criteria for involuntary examination, and he was transported to a provider for further evaluation.<\/p>\n
Federal officials state the complaint establishes probable cause that Elder knowingly made a threat involving an explosive device. The case remains pending in federal court.<\/p>\n
– Advertisement –<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 A St. Petersburg man is facing a federal charge after investigators say he made threats involving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-207297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}