Connecticut man Joseph Callahan was accused of stockpiling an arsenal of guns, ammunition and homemade bombs in his $1 million mansion and was arrested on Tuesday, October 1st.

Local police and federal agents raided the five bedroom home in Fairfield after Callahan reported a burglary and found 274 firearms, tens of thousands rounds of ammunition, and a large amount of hazardous material. Callahan was charged with 11 counts of illegal possession of explosives, six counts of first degree reckless endangerment, and one count of manufacturing bombs.

No one knows why the 69 year old man was stockpiling weapons. Dennis Schain of the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection proposed that some of the chemicals may have been used in Callahan’s rocketry hobby. According to Callahan’s LinkedIn profile, he is the president of chemical company Remair and previously worked at gun manufacturer Remington Arms for almost two decades. 

It took experts including agents from the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives two days to deal with the dangerous materials, which included containers of highly explosive material, and to make the area safe. No one was harmed in the operation.

The Daily Mail
reported that Fairfield chef police Gary Macnamara who was involved in the operation said there were, “tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition strewn through the residence.”

Callahan is reportedly cooperating with the authorities and was released from custody to remove the remaining dangerous chemicals. Hazardous material professionals and fire department officers will remain at the scene until he fully complies with the court order to dispose of the material.

His attorney Richard Meehan says that his client had no “nefarious intent.” Meehan said in the New York Daily News, “He is a gun collector, and they’re all registered. They’re all legal.” He continued, “In addition, he’s an amateur rocketeer. He shoots off his own small rockets, and a lot of what he had was related to the rocketry.”

Callahan is due to appear in Superior Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Wednesday, October 16, 2013.