Man charged with planting explosive device at US military base had fled to China

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — A man who has since fled to China was charged with placing an improvised explosive device outside the visitor’s center at a Florida military base housing US Central Command, which is leading the joint US-Israeli war effort against Iran.

During a press conference Thursday, US Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Gregory W. Kehoe, detailed how investigators believe the man, Alen Zheng, placed the IED at the base and how his sister — Ann Mary Zheng — helped him cover up his crime and flee to China.

Kehoe said investigators do not have evidence that a foreign country is connected to the crime and are still investigating Zheng’s possible motivations.

According to prosecutors, Zheng — as an unnamed caller — made a 911 call minutes after placing the explosive device on March 10, saying there was a bomb at the MacDill Air Force base while not providing a location for the device.

The base was searched but no device was located until March 16, six days later, Kehoe said, when the IED was found in a secluded area near the base’s visitor’s center. Federal law enforcement analyzed the explosive and determined it was viable, officials said during the press conference but did not explain why the bomb never detonated.

By the time they had located the device, Zheng and his sister had fled to China, Kehoe said. Investigators traced the 911 call back to a phone Zheng had purchased at Best Buy and later found explosive material in his home as well as residue from the IED in the car he used to transport the device, Kehoe said.

Zheng has been charged with three counts including making an explosive device and attempt to damage government property. Zheng’s sister traveled back to the US on March 17 and was later arrested and charged with allegedly helping Zheng flee and sell the car authorities say he used.

“Why she came back I don’t know,” Kehoe said. She pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday, according to court records.

The siblings are US citizens, Kehoe said, adding that he didn’t know if they held any dual citizenship. Kehoe said that when officials interviewed Ann Mary Zheng and her mother — who they did not name — the two admitted knowing that Zheng had planted the device.

Zheng’s mother is “in custody for deportation,” Kehoe said, because she overstayed her visa.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.