Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Kentucky: Iraqi Doctor Planted IED’s on Walking Trails, Killed After Altercation with Authorities

Mark Sawaf, Physician, Moderate Muslim, BOMBMAKER


HARLAN – A man shot and killed during a confrontation with authorities Thursday night in Harlan County was previously accused of concealing explosives in trail cameras and putting them in the woods. 
Mark Sawaf, 39, of Harlan had been indicted by a federal grand jury in July and was scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 13, according to court documents. He was ordered to remain in custody until trial and was indicted on eight charges, including owning and making unregistered destructive devices. 
ATF had received information that Sawaf had placed more explosives in the woods and had gone with him to find them, Kentucky State Police Trooper Shane Jacobs said Friday. 
ATF asked Lexington police and fire officials for help because of “an expanded area” that needed to be searched and the scale of the operation, state police said. 
The state police hazardous devices unit was also asked to assist.
Sawaf died at the scene, according to state police and the Harlan County coroner’s office. 
The group had found several trail cameras in the woods before the shooting, and bomb technicians searched the area Friday for more explosives, Jacobs said. 
Trail cameras are usually affixed to trees and are motion-activated to take photos of deer and other animals, but Sawaf allegedly had modified some with explosive material.