Man appears in court on charges of possessing a weapon of mass destruction

A man suspected of having a homemade explosive device outside of a Sheetz convenience store in Holly Springs made his first court appearance on Thursday afternoon.

Norman Michael Bray, 50, appeared by video conference before a Wake County judge. He is facing charges of possessing a weapon of mass destruction, manufacturing a controlled substance and possessing hazardous materials.

"Sir, you're in court today for a first appearance," the judge said. "You've been charged with two felonies that each carry up to 59 months in prison. One felony that carries up to 24 months and a misdemeanor that carries up to 120 days."

Holly Springs police on Wednesday arrested Bray for having an improvised explosive in his car outside a Sheetz gas station at 1100 Avent Ferry Road.

Officers were conducting a business check of the store around 5 p.m. when they noticed Bray, acting suspiciously.

Police located Bray's 1999 Toyota 4Runner in the Sheetz parking lot. During the investigation, officers found "controlled substances, hazardous materials, and an improvised explosive device inside the vehicle.”

Police arrested Bray, blocked off the parking lot and evacuated the store.

In court, prosecutors asked the judge to increase his bond because of how serious the situation was.

"We think $200,000 would be more appropriate," the prosecutor said. "Essentially, a bomb was discovered in the vehicle that the Raleigh bomb squad had to come diffuse."

The judge left the bond at $120,000. WRAL News asked police why the Raleigh bomb squad was called in. Police said it was out of an abundance of caution since the Holly Springs Police Department has no officers with that type of training.

Police charged Bray with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, possession of methamphetamine, manufacture of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A lawyer explained to WRAL News the weapons of mass destruction charge is a broad term. Even something like a sawed-off shotgun, a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel, is considered a weapon of mass destruction.

In this case, police believe Bray had some sort of homemade explosive device. Now the focus of the investigation will turn to why he had such a device in his car and what his plan was.

Bray's SUV was removed just after 10 p.m.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. Bray is due back in court on Aug. 15.