PHOENIX – A Phoenix man, Arizona, Jared Trent Atkins, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. In 2019, Atkins stabbed a man after which stole radiological devices that intended to release in Scottsdale.
Atkins’ prison term is to be followed by twelve years of supervised release.
On April 28, 2019, Atkins was arrested on state charges in Maricopa County. He subsequently pleaded guilty to Aggravated Assault and Arson of Property, and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Atkins’s federal sentence will run consecutive to his state sentence.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), April 28, 2019 in the early morning hours, Atkins entered a gas station in Phoenix and stabbed the night clerk working inside. Atkins then fled the gas station and drove to his place of employment, where he stole three radiological devices containing Iridium-192 along with the tools to open the devices and expose the radiological material.
Approximately one hour after the stabbing and theft, Atkins set fire to a vehicle at a Mesa car dealership.
Atkins notified his co-workers by text to let them know he had the radiological devices. He warned his co-workers to stay home until the devices were found. Security footage from Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall shows Atkins driving on Camelback Road adjacent to the Mall. Atkins later told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) he intended to have a “last stand” and considered conducting it at the Mall.
Atkins then drove to Mt. Ord in the Payson area and called his family to say goodbye. Atkins opened one of the radiological devices. Atkins planned to commit suicide by irradiation, knowing he would harm anyone who tried to stop or arrest him. For unknown reasons, however, Atkins closed the radiological device and returned to Phoenix.
Later the same morning, Atkins drove back to his apartment, with the radiological devices and the bloody knife he used to stab the gas station clerk. The Phoenix Police Department and FBI agents responded to the scene, but Atkins barricaded himself inside his apartment. After roughly two hours of a standoff and working with a negotiator, Atkins agreed to surrender and was taken into custody without further incident. Law enforcement safely recovered all three radiological devices, including all stolen radiological material, from Atkins’s vehicle.