A father from Washington state, whose 4-year-old accidentally shot his mother last month, now faces over a dozen new charges after authorities discovered 73 weapons — the majority unregistered and improperly stored — along with homemade bombs and materials for bomb-making.
David Neff, aged 44, was initially apprehended on July 15 following an incident where his child retrieved Neff’s handgun from its holster while Neff was asleep and shot his mother as she was showering, according to KOMO. The mother sustained a significant injury to her arm but is expected to heal fully.
The child experienced a minor facial injury, which a responding firefighter suggested was likely caused by the gun’s recoil when fired.
Neff admitted to officials that he often kept a loaded gun in a holster, and his son accessed the weapon while he slept on the couch.
Initially, Neff faced charges for not storing firearms safely, but prosecutors recently introduced 14 additional charges, including various counts related to possessing explosive devices, illegal firearms, and reckless endangerment.
The Lynnwood Times reports that while Neff claimed he owned 13 registered guns secured in home safes, the search revealed 73 firearms, 60 unregistered and most not stored securely.
In one room, police found two unsecured AR-style rifles with loaded magazines. In all, there were 73 weapons scattered throughout the home, including five short-barreled rifles, a bump stock, and more than 10 homemade bombs — tubes filled with black powder, wires, and metal fragments such as screws and nails. Investigators also found large containers of gunpowder, primer, and bullet-making components stashed in the garage.
Overall, bomb squads disassembled eight bombs and detonated others after X-rays revealed their contents and they were found to be too unstable to deconstruct. State officials told deputies that Neff did not have a license to purchase, use, store, or manufacture explosives.
“The danger Mr. Neff poses to this community cannot be understated,” Kristina Beske-Keplinger, deputy prosecuting attorney for Snohomish County, told the court last week in asking for a higher bond, KOMO reported.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was given a $1 million bond.
But perhaps more disturbing was a drawing with Neff’s name on it found in the home. Prosecutors said it “appeared to be a mass shooting of the community [Neff] resides in.”
Although he does not at present face any drug charges, deputies said in court documents they saw drug paraphernalia, including meth pipes, in the home and recovered multiple pills and other drugs on Neff’s person when he was arrested.
