Investigators looking into the death of a pizza deliveryman who was killed when a bomb locked around his neck exploded after he robbed a bank released photos Thursday of a strange cane-shaped firearm found in the man’s car and offered a $50,000 reward for information in the case.
FBI AGENT Bob Rudge said the weapon fired shotgun shells and appeared to be homemade. Investigators hope someone will recognize the weapon, which is made of wood and metal, and contact them with information.
“We know that Mr. Wells was instructed to take the cane inside (the bank) to commit the robbery,” Rudge said. He did not say how the FBI knows that, and he refused to say whether the cane-gun had been fired.
Rudge said behavioral specialists at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., had developed a profile of the person who may have made the weapon. Rudge called the person who made the weapon patient, mature and “deceptive.”
“This may not be the only cane gun the individual has manufactured,” Rudge said. He added that the person could have shown the weapon to someone.
Wells, 46, died when the customized bomb locked on his neck exploded shortly after his arrest on Aug. 28. Police officers who had arrested him were waiting for a bomb squad to arrive when the device detonated.
Before he died, Wells told police he had been forced to rob a PNC Bank branch by someone who locked the bomb to his body. He did not identify the person before he died.
Authorities have previously released police sketches of two men they would like to question about the case and photos of the bomb and the connected timing device.
Investigators found a lengthy note afterward instructing Wells to visit four sites in the area to obtain instructions on how to remove or deactivate the bomb.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.