AUSTIN — State officials presented a Unit Citation to 13 members of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division in Amarillo for preventing a July 4th mass-casualty attack in Northwest Texas last year.
Authorities began monitoring Kevin Hunt, 19, in February 2025 after his release from a juvenile mental health program. After tracking social media posts expressing grievances and a desire to commit a mass attack, officers detained him July 2, 2025, while he conducted site surveillance before Independence Day events.
A search of Hunt’s home by DPS, Amarillo police, and the Randall County District Attorney’s Office uncovered firearms, high-capacity magazines, explosive materials, bomb-making instructions, and a manifesto. Hunt also confessed to making explosives.
Hunt pleaded guilty April 29, 2026, to federal charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and faces sentencing next month. He also faces state charges of possessing explosive components, attempted capital murder, and terrorism—Texas’ first state-level terrorism charge.
An alleged co-conspirator was indicted on July 15, 2026, for hindering prosecution and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and was extradited from California.