Inset: Samuel Kendall (Waukesha County Sheriff's Office). Background: News footage of Kendall's home being searched (WISN).
A Wisconsin man who was arrested for an alleged shooting also faces charges for allegedly having explosive materials at his home.
Samuel Kendall, 25, is in custody at the Waukesha County Jail after police said he fired a rifle at two people in their car at a Culver's restaurant parking lot in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, on June 12. According to a criminal complaint obtained by local ABC affiliate WISN, one of the shooting victims was hit in the eye by what he believed was a BB gun. Police said they found shell casings from a rifle at the scene.
As the investigation into the shooting progressed, police identified the suspect vehicle as a silver Lincoln Town Car that was registered to Kendall. While executing a search warrant at Kendall's home, police said they found evidence that he recently sold a 300 Blackout rifle. Kendall also allegedly had a cache of explosive materials.
Police said they had received earlier reports that Flock cameras in the area near the Culver's had been shot out. A couple also reported finding bullet holes on their home's deck. Police found shell casings for a .300 Blackout rifle at the home.
According to the criminal complaint, which was also obtained by local newspaper The Freeman, police detectives learned that an informant for the DEA had reported buying firearms and 3D-printed automatic switches from Kendall. With assistance from authorities, the informant purchased a .300 Blackout rifle from Kendall for $1,200 on July 10, along with ammunition that matched the shell casings found at the scene of the shooting and the home that was allegedly shot at.
Kendall then reportedly sold his silver sedan to someone in Waupaca, Wisconsin, for $1,000 and told the buyer to avoid road cameras while driving it.
Police said they tracked Kendall down at his workplace, where they took him into custody on July 16. Kendall initially denied any involvement with the alleged shooting at Culver's, but admitted to shooting at two Flock cameras before driving to the Culver's. According to the complaint, Kendall told police that he left the Culver's parking lot and believed a car was chasing him. He claimed that while "in a panic paranoia state," he fired at the ground in front of the car as a warning.
Authorities then executed a search warrant at three different locations, including at Kendall's home. In Kendall's bedroom, FBI agents found several materials that they said "can be expeditiously assembled to create a device consistent with an IED and explosives." The materials included switches, circuit boards for radio-controlled switches, powder, ball bearings, fireworks, digital timers, potassium nitrate, and sulfur powder. Agents also allegedly found journals containing diagrams and instructions on how to assemble explosive devices.
When police spoke to Kendall's sister, she told them her brother had "anti-government and antipolice sentiments since childhood and he was paranoid about law enforcement." Kendall's mother reportedly described her son as a "conspiracy theorist." Police said Kendall's father confirmed that his son had recently sold a 300 Blackout rifle.
Kendall was charged with four counts of recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon, two counts of criminal damage to property, and one count of possession of improvised explosives.
He is being held on $250,000 cash bail. His next court date is scheduled for July 24.