A Missouri man who was killed in an FBI shootout earlier this week allegedly plotted to blow up a hospital amid the coronavirus pandemic, news station KSHB reports. In a statement Wednesday, the FBI said they shot and killed 36-year-old Timothy Wilson while they were trying to arrest the “potentially violent extremist” on Tuesday. Wilson was the “subject of a months-long domestic terrorism investigation,” the FBI said, and was thought to have been motivated “by racial, religious, and anti-government animus.”
The FBI said Wilson “considered several targets” for a bombing for several months, and that he accelerated his plan due to the coronavirus outbreak. “With the current health crisis, Wilson decided to accelerate his plan to use a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in an attempt to cause severe harm and mass casualties,” the FBI statement read. “Wilson considered various targets and ultimately settled on an area hospital in an attempt to harm many people, targeting a facility that is providing critical medical care in today's environment.” He had allegedly taken steps to procure the materials needed to make a bomb. Agents attempted to arrest Wilson when he thought he was picking up the explosive, but he was armed during the incident. He ultimately was shot and killed.