Angry at ‘hot cheerleaders,’ Virginia man blows off his hand in bomb mishap, feds say

When 23-year-old Cole Carini showed up Wednesday at a Virginia hospital missing a hand and several fingers on his other hand, he blamed a lawnmower accident, federal authorities say.

But police, who knew that Carini had a previous conviction on explosives charges, got a search warrant for his Richlands home and called in the FBI, The Daily Beast reports.

Investigators found no signs the lawn had been mowed recently or of any lawnmower accident, an FBI affidavit says.

But they did find a trail of blood leading from a red minivan in the driveway into the home and up the stairs to Carini’s bedroom, the affidavit says. In the room, investigators found more blood, bits of flesh, a bottle of explosives and a box of rusty nails.

They also found what appeared to be a homemade bomb that had exploded, peppering the room with shrapnel, the affidavit says.

In a shed at his grandmother’s nearby home, investigators found PVC pipes, wires, batteries and other potential bomb-making equipment, along with a crumpled note, the affidavit says.

The note expressed anger at “hot cheerleaders” and admiration for Elliot Rodger, a self-described “incel” who killed six people and injured 14 others in Isla Vista, California, in 2014 before killing himself, the affidavit says..

Incels, shorthand for “involuntarily celibate,” hate women for rejecting them as sexual partners, according to The New York Post.

The note described an imaginary suicide bomber’s tension “as he now approached the stage of hot cheerleaders” at a shopping mall, vowing to “be heroic” and “make a statement” as Rodgers did, the affidavit says.

When investigators questioned Carini at the hospital, he said his injuries resulted from a lawnmower tipping over, mangling his hands and then exploding, the affidavit says. He also denied having any explosives at his home.

Carini has been charged with lying to federal investigators about how he was injured and whether or not he possessed explosives, the release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.

“It’s a situation where my son needs help, and I hope he gets the help he needs,” said Carini’s mother, The Daily Beast reported.

This story was originally published June 7, 2020 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Angry at ‘hot cheerleaders,’ Virginia man blows off his hand in bomb mishap, feds say."