Robert Lecron was still shaking his head Tuesday, 24 hours after his granddaughter was arrested and accused of plotting to blow up a Toledo bar.
Standing outside his Maumee home, Mr. Lecron was visibly troubled by the accusations and charges levied against Elizabeth “Bee” Lecron, 23. Investigators said she told an undercover agent she planned to commit “upscale mass murder,” and purchased bomb-making materials.
She is charged with transporting explosive materials with intent to injure or damage property after she purchased black powder and hundreds of screws. On Tuesday law enforcement sources said they planned to charge her boyfriend, Vincent Armstrong, in connection with the case. Mr. Armstrong was arrested Monday evening.
Family members struggled to reconcile the horrific accusations against the couple with the children they watched grow up.
“Shocked. I was totally shocked,” Mr. Lecron said of his granddaughter’s arrest. “Nothing like that has ever happened in our family.”
Brenda Brown lives a few doors down from the residence where Ms. Lecron and Mr. Armstrong were living in the 3600 block of Willow Run Drive near the University of Toledo, and saw Ms. Lecron’s arrest transpire Monday.
“I was sitting here with my coffee and looked out the window and I saw SWAT in my driveway with a rifle,” Ms. Brown said. “They were locked and loaded, baby. They converged quick.”
Authorities searched the property in August and found an AK-47, shotgun, multiple handguns, a large quantity of ammunition, and end caps — a component for building pipe bombs, according to the criminal complaint laying out the charge against Ms. Lecron.
Ms. Brown said she never interacted with Ms. Lecron, but noticed her “coming and going” from the house for at least a year and assumed she was a college student. She said the neighborhood is usually pretty quiet, except for the occasional college party, and never noticed anything out of the ordinary coming from the home where Ms. Lecron lived.
Ms. Brown mentioned she’s thankful Ms. Lecron was arrested before she could carry out any attacks.
“I was kind of nervous because if she’s building a bomb, all of our houses could have gone ‘boom, boom, boom,’” Ms. Brown said. “You never know who you’re living next to; that’s pretty scary crap.
“I’m glad somebody squealed on her because I think she was a little sick in the head. Especially if she’s writing to that Dylann Roof. He’s on death row.”
Federal authorities said Ms. Lecron corresponded with Roof, a white supremacist who was convicted of killing nine black parishioners at a Charleston, S.C. church in 2015, and sent him books about Nazis.
Mr. Lecron said he saw his granddaughter a little more frequently when she was younger. He said she enjoyed being around her grandmother when she was alive and called Ms. Lecron a “very nice little girl.”
Mr. Lecron said he hasn’t seen his granddaughter in about a year and a half. Ms. Lecron’s mother — his daughter — divorced from her father and later died. Ms. Lecron lived with her father for a while before moving to Toledo. Mr. Lecron said Ms. Lecron’s father moved out of the area about six months ago.
“I guess I’m going to have to see it through a little bit and figure it out,” Mr. Lecron said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to Elizabeth.”
The news was similarly shocking to Mr. Armstrong’s family. His grandmother, Laura Armstrong, said he seemed to be nothing but a kind soul.
“It’s just gut-wrenching and very sad. I have no clue where this came from,” she said. “We totally weren’t expecting it.”
Mrs. Armstrong said she has seen her grandson a handful of times throughout the year, but she has only briefly been around Ms. Lecron on two occasions. She did not get to know her grandson’s girlfriend, Mrs. Armstrong said.
The family did not know how long the couple had been dating, but Mr. Armstrong seemed to be doing well at the last family gathering — a wedding where he even dressed in a suit, his grandmother said.
“Thank the Lord that no one was injured and they were caught. That’s our saving grace. To know what’s going to happen with Vince’s life, we have no clue and we’re very sad,” Mrs. Armstrong said.
Family said he is a Clay High School graduate and previously took classes at Bowling Green State University. They noted news of his expected charges came on his 23rd birthday.
“He’s our grandson and I love him. We were with him since he was small. Today, all I can think about is playing ball with him,” his grandfather, Michael Armstrong said.
Blade staff writer Lauren Lindstrom contributed to this report.
Contact Jay Skebba at: jskebba@theblade.com, 419-376-9414, or on Twitter @JaySkebbaBlade.
Contact Allison Dunn at: adunn@theblade.com, 419-724-6506, or on Twitter @AllisonDBlade.
First Published December 11, 2018, 11:38 p.m.
