A 14-year-old juvenile from Steele was placed in the custody of his paternal grandfather after authorities found guns, explosives, marijuana, knives, a tazer, magazines and a laptop computer in his bedroom last week.

The teen was charged with possession of a sawed-off, short-barreled .22 caliber rifle and possession of a marijuana plant. He was released into the custody of his parental grandfather.

Steele police officer Joy Ray said authorities received a tip through the “Are You Okay” program in Steele she initiated four years ago.

“One of the relatives of one of the seniors I visit was concerned about another relative who fell asleep in bed with a lit cigarette all the time,” Ray said. “They were living in fear thinking the house would catch on fire.”

Ray said when the relative came to file a report about the smoking incident, some of the information about the juvenile came to light.

“It appeared the juvenile was not being supervised,” Ray said. “On that initial report, the relative (a step-grandfather to the juvenile) gave permission for us to come to the house and see what was going on.”

Ray said when they arrived at the home, Steele police chief Jim Clay, along with the St. Clair County Department of Human Resources, found a marijuana plant out in one of the shed buildings as well as some homemade gun silencers.

“Chief Clay immediately called the State Fire Marshal,” Ray said. “When the state arrived on the scene, we had consent to go into the home.”

What they found in the teen’s bedroom was astonishing.

In the bedroom, authorities seized guns, including a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle, knives, a stun gun, another silencer, a computer, two U.S. News magazines and a Newsweek magazine that talked about terror, a con man in Iraq and the DC snipers.

Clay said what disturbs him is that these were the only type magazines the boy had in his bedroom — no sporting magazine, no girly magazines, no 14-year-old magazines.

“The teen also emptied the powder out of numerous shotgun shells and was improvising what he called ‘firecrackers,’” Clay said. “But under the new state statute, anything that explodes is an improvised explosive device. From what I understand, these were fairly big. I believe he was making homemade bombs. He said he learned how to make these by watching it on YouTube.”

Clay said the guns were all legally purchased shotguns and rifles from Wal-Mart and some weapons were inherited by the teen.

“When supervised, these weapons are OK,” Clay said. “But the .22 caliber rifle that had the stock cut off makes it illegal.”

The teen told authorities that he purchased the stun gun online using an adult’s credit card.

Clay called in the Alabama, Tobacco & Firearms investigators to assist.

Steele Mayor John Wesley McHugh said police try and stay on top of things like this that are going on in town.

“A lot of people don’t realize that a lot of criminal activity is not only in your large cities but in your small towns,” McHugh said. “The ‘Are You Okay’ program is the best program we have in our town.

“Our senior citizens are the ones who helped make this town what it is. We owe them at least this much to check on them and make sure they are alright.”

St. Clair County Schools Superintendent Jenny Seals said the teen is a former student at Ashville Middle School.

“It is a sad situation, but at this point we do not have very much information,” said Seals. “We’ve had no issues reported to us but we are investigating. As always, student safety is a priority in St. Clair County. We will continue to pray for him and his family.”

Steele Jr. High School Principal Judy Dixon said the teen has never been a student at her school.