Roswell man faces charges after bombs, guns found in home

Concerned citizen called police after seeing armed neighbor putting weapons in car

Joshua D. Vaughn could have picked a better day to go target shooting.

On Monday, a neighbor concerned over the mass shooting in El Paso, saw Vaughn, 31, outside his mother’s Roswell home — where he also lived — loading his silver Ford Hatchback with rifles. He was wearing latex gloves and camouflage and a had a pistol in holster. The neighbor called Roswell police.

That started a series of events that led to the New Mexico State Police bomb team being called to Roswell to dismantle homemade explosive devices scattered around Vaughn’s bedroom and garage.

Vaughn now faces federal charges of making destructive explosive devices and being a user of a controlled substance in possession of firearms — he admitted smoking marijuana daily.

Both charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

According to federal court records, shortly after the concerned citizen’s call, uniformed officers stopped Vaughn as he drove down Roswell’s Main Street and ordered him out of the car.

When Vaughn complied, officers saw he was armed. Cooperative and talkative, he told police there were more guns in the vehicle.

Officers found two pistols on Vaughn — one holstered across his chest and the other on his hip — along with four rifles and a shotgun with the shoulder stock sawed off in the vehicle after he gave them permission to search it.

During an interview with police and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Vaughn said he wasn’t violent and had no intention of duplicating the shooting that occurred at a Walmart in El Paso.

Vaughn was advised of his rights and was cooperative with agents during his interview.

In a federal search warrant affidavit, an agent said Vaughn told them he smoked marijuana daily to alleviate his anxiety and that his state medical cannabis program card had been stolen.

Agents confirmed Vaughn is registered to use medical cannabis, according to court records. Under federal law, marijuana is considered a controlled substance, and it is against federal law for a user of a controlled substance to possess firearms.

Vaughn also agreed to allow police and agents to search the home — his mother also gave permission —for firearms he told them he had left at the house.

When agents asked whether there were any dangerous items in his house, he described homemade explosive devices he said he had learned to make by watching videos on the Internet.

Federal agents said that based on Vaughn’s description, the homemade items sounded like improvised explosive devices Out of caution, the agent said in the search warrant affidavit, he asked for the assistance of the New Mexico State Police Bomb Team to clear the residence.

Two members of the team did a safety sweep of the house and decided there were too many suspicious items for them to clear in Vaughn’s bedroom without additional bomb team members.

The agent then secured a search warrant for Tuesday, when the devices were disarmed by bomb team members.

Vaughn was ordered temporarily detained pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, which have not been scheduled. The hearing will be held in federal court in Las Cruces.

The charges against Vaughn were announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek III of the Dallas Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Roswell Police Chief Philip Smith, and New Mexico State Police Chief Tim Johnson.