{"id":439928,"date":"2026-10-28T00:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/439928\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T00:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T00:34:11","slug":"florida-teen-accused-of-seeking-isis-guidance-to-build-explosives-deputies-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/439928\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida teen accused of seeking ISIS guidance to build explosives, deputies say"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALACHUA, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A 15-year-old Gainesville boy is accused of seeking ISIS help to build drones and explosives, with investigators finding bomb-making files and chemicals at his home.<\/p>\n

Jude Sleeper was arrested Monday and charged with making or attempting to make a destructive device, according to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Deputies say the investigation began on Friday when the sheriff’s office and FBI went to Sleeper’s home in the 9000 block of NW 59th Lane in Gainesville. Investigators had received what authorities described as credible information that Sleeper was communicating on social media with members and supporters of ISIS, also known as the Islamic State.<\/p>\n

According to the sheriff’s office, Sleeper was asking unidentified people for guidance on building drones and explosives to attack people at an indoor location that has not been determined.<\/p>\n

See also: Man charged in stolen Honda case; police say 13-year-old was also detained<\/a><\/p>\n

After speaking with Sleeper and his parents, investigators received permission from his parents to seize and search his phone, authorities said. A preliminary review uncovered files containing instructions for making explosive devices and chemical compounds, along with ISIS propaganda.<\/p>\n

Investigators returned to the home Monday for a follow-up investigation and informed Sleeper’s parents about the files found on his phone, per deputies.<\/p>\n

While investigators were inside the residence, Sleeper’s mother alerted them to two jars in his bedroom, authorities said.<\/p>\n

When asked about the contents, Sleeper allegedly told investigators the jars contained different chemical agents used to make triacetone triperoxide, or TATP<\/a> \u2014 a highly unstable explosive that can detonate unexpectedly.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A 15-year-old Gainesville boy is accused of seeking ISIS help to build drones and explosives, with investigators finding bomb-making files and chemicals at his home. (Office of the Director of National Intelligence)<\/p>\n

The home was immediately evacuated, and the sheriff’s office Bomb Team responded to assess the materials and secure the scene, authorities said.<\/p>\n

After the residence was deemed safe, detectives and crime scene investigators obtained and executed a search warrant, according to the sheriff’s office.<\/p>\n

Sleeper was arrested and charged with making or attempting to make a destructive device. Additional charges are possible as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALACHUA, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A 15-year-old Gainesville boy is accused of seeking ISIS help to build drones and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-439928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439928","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=439928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}