Troubling evidence in bomb inquiry

Police found a map of Camp David marked with a presidential motorcade route inside the Bethesda, Md., home of a teenager at the center of a bomb-making probe, along with a document that appears to describe how to kill someone at a distance of 200 meters, a Montgomery County, Md., prosecutor said Tuesday at a court hearing.

Collin McKenzie-Gude, 18, also had two forms of fake identification: one holding him out to be a Central Intelligence Agency employee, and the other in the name of a federal contractor purportedly protected by the Geneva Conventions, authorities said.

The investigation has expanded to include CIA, FBI and Secret Service officials, prosecutors said. McKenzie-Gude, who is in the Montgomery County jail in lieu of a $750,000 bond, faces charges including weapons violations, possession of explosives and attempted carjacking.

McKenzie-Gude graduated from St. John’s College High, a private school in Washington. He was scheduled to start classes this fall at American University’s School of International Service.

His father, Joseph Gude, 62, a retired Air Force captain who works for the Treasury Department, also was charged in the case, accused of buying guns for his son. McKenzie-Gude’s mother, Debra McKenzie-Gude, holds a master’s degree in social work.

“Their whole world has been turned upside down,” said Steven Kupferberg, an attorney for McKenzie-Gude.

A St. John’s student, 17, was charged as a juvenile but was not identified because of his age. Until recently, the student worked as an intern at a Montgomery County police district station, where authorities said he stole police letterhead that was used to obtain items restricted to law enforcement.

Attorneys for McKenzie-Gude, his father and the student said their clients did not intend to hurt anyone.

Prosecutors said that when McKenzie-Gude learned last week that detectives wanted to search his house, he panicked and drove to a mall. There, authorities said, he knocked a 78-year-old man to the ground and took his keys, but fled when he couldn’t start the car.

At McKenzie-Gude’s home, police found more than 50 pounds of chemicals, assault-style weapons and armor-piercing bullets. They also found a list of home addresses for St. John’s teachers.

Police also found “a kind of a to-do list of items to be bought by October of 2008,” said Peter Feeney, assistant state’s attorney, at the hearing. The list included “equipment to convert semiautomatic rifles to fully automatic rifles” and “range-finding glasses that typically are used by a sniper team.”