A Colorado State University student is facing a felony charge after campus police say they found a jar of napalm-like substance hidden in the ceiling of his dorm room at Durward Hall, along with aluminum powder, iron oxide, and an empty pipe device consistent with an incendiary-type explosive. The arrest came after two separate groups of visitors told investigators the student had shown off the jar and bragged about what it could do.
According to 9News, the case began when a Colorado State University Housing Services employee contacted police after reviewing an online report filed by two students, per the arrest affidavit. One witness told investigators the student asked her and a friend if they wanted to see something cool, then pulled out a glass jar roughly the size of a coffee mug containing a sticky white substance she said he identified as napalm, per the affidavit. A second witness, who had visited the room with a friend to watch the sunset and build foam swords, separately described the jar's contents as white and resembling glow-stick liquid, and said the student reportedly identified it as napalm and claimed he had previously melted a camera with it, per the same affidavit.
Per the affidavit, the student placed the jar in the ceiling near his roommate's side of the room. CSU police then executed a search warrant and recovered the jar containing a substance consistent with napalm, along with aluminum powder, natural black iron oxide, and an empty pipe device consistent with an incendiary-type pipe explosive, according to the affidavit cited in the station's report. The student was suspected of possessing white phosphorus or napalm in his room at Durward Hall, per the arrest affidavit.
Charges and Court Date
The student was charged with possession of explosives or an incendiary device, a felony, and reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, per the affidavit. The affidavit describes the alleged offense as possession of explosives or an incendiary device.
Colorado State University Police logged the case, CS26-0001473, on October 12, recording an explosives possession incident at Durward Hall that occurred sometime between October 6 and October 12 before resulting in the arrest and case closure, according to the Colorado State University Police daily crime log. University housing policy strictly prohibits explosives, flammable liquids, fireworks, and weapons inside residence halls, and requires students to waive any right to possess such items on campus residential property as a condition of living in CSU housing.
A Chaotic Night on Campus
The discovery unfolded during a heightened security situation on CSU's Fort Collins campus. Just hours before the Durward Hall case was logged, police shot an armed man acting erratically near Newton Plaza on the same campus, according to CBS News Colorado. Hoodline previously reported that an independent team took over the shooting probe, underscoring that CSU police were handling the explosives report while simultaneously responding to that separate officer-involved shooting the same evening.
Durward Hall is a 12-story high-rise, one of the two tallest buildings on CSU's Fort Collins campus, housing approximately 450 students in community-style living spaces, according to Colorado State University housing records. Built starting in 1966 and dedicated in 1969, the hall was named for Margaret Elizabeth Durward, a pioneer in teacher training and former principal of the Colorado School of Agriculture who died in 1933, per Orion Environmental. The building was also the site of a shelter-in-place order in October 2024, alongside neighboring Laurel Village and Corbett Hall, during an earlier police investigation, according to 9News.
Regional Comparisons
Explosive materials turning up in student housing are not unique to Fort Collins. In January 2025, Utah State University police and a bomb squad arrested a 20-year-old student after discovering large quantities of chemical compounds and explosive-making materials in his campus dormitory room, according to Gephardt Daily. Colorado authorities have also pursued serious charges over hidden pipe components before; in a 2017 Denver case, federal charges followed after police found pipe bomb parts inside a hotel room, per the United States Department of Justice.
Emergency responses involving suspected explosives in Larimer County draw on regional infrastructure including the Northern Colorado Bomb Squad, the Larimer County All Hazards Crisis Response Team, the FBI, and the ATF, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office. It remains unclear whether federal agencies are evaluating additional charges alongside the state felony count, or what disciplinary steps CSU has initiated against the student within university housing.
