2nd Teen Charged In Bomb, Gun Case

Ex-Montgomery Police Intern Jailed

Montgomery County detectives yesterday charged a second teenager in an ongoing bombmaking investigation, saying the youth worked at one of their precincts and stole department letterhead paper to help obtain products restricted to law enforcement officers.

Court records allege that the duo, ages 18 and 17, tested pipe bombs three times in a Gaithersburg field, going back to last summer. Their ultimate intentions remain unclear.

Investigators have said that the 18-year-old, Collin McKenzie-Gude of Bethesda, was compiling a list of addresses of teachers at St. John's College High School in the District, the private high school from which he recently graduated.

Police say they found a cache of assault rifles, armor-piercing ammunition, bulletproof vests, bombmaking components and explosive chemicals inside McKenzie-Gude's bedroom.

Steven D. Kupferberg, an attorney for McKenzie-Gude, has not returned phone calls or e-mails from The Washington Post.

The second youth, 17, turned himself in yesterday to Montgomery's 1st District Station in Rockville, where he served as a student intern from May 19 until he became a suspect in the case.

He was charged as a juvenile with theft, computer misuse and conspiracy.

Police did not release his name because he is not charged as an adult.

They would not say what products were obtained with the police department letterhead paper.

The investigation into the teenagers' actions began in July, when police received a letter from a Gaithersburg woman saying that McKenzie-Gude had explosive materials. Police did not identify the woman, but in an e-mail to The Post, a Gaithersburg woman named Ludmila S. Yevsukov said she originally wrote the letter to Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.

In an interview, Yevsukov said she is a relative of the 17-year-old and had grown concerned that he was being "brainwashed" by McKenzie-Gude. Yevsukov said the 17-year-old also attended St. John's.

On Tuesday, investigators searched McKenzie-Gude's home on Rockhurst Road, where they found more than 50 pounds of chemicals and various weapons. He was charged with weapons and explosives violations.

The teenager's father, Joseph L. Gude, is accused of buying guns for his son and faces charges of straw weapons purchases.

Police said further investigation revealed that, starting in July 2007, McKenzie-Gude brought pipe bombs to a house on Goshens Edge Court in Gaithersburg, according to a statement of probable cause signed by Daniel Maxwell, an investigator at the county fire department.

McKenzie-Gude and the 17-year-old detonated the bombs in a nearby field, using both ignitable fuses and electrical ignition means, Maxwell's statement said. Bomb investigators who searched the field in recent days found remains of destructive devices.