Student found with guns, body armor, diagram of Univ. of Delaware police department: authorities

WILMINGTON, Del. (WPVI) -- Police in Delaware say the discovery of a vehicle in a park after hours may have ended with a violent plot being thwarted.

The man inside the truck was found to have a gun, ammo, and a notebook with alleged "premeditated assault plans."

Although the threat was against the University of Delaware police department, the plot was discovered by New Castle County police officers, largely by coincidence as they conducted routine patrols in Wilmington.

"And they just randomly drove up in the Canby Park West, and when they located the vehicle in the park, once they made contact with the individual, rather than just shooing the person out, saying, 'hey, the park is closed,' they did police work," Master Corporal Richard Chambers said.

Luqmaan Khan, 25, was arrested in that Wilmington park just after midnight last Monday, November 24 after refusing to comply with officers' requests.

Police said prior to the arrest, he appeared "visibly nervous," avoiding eye contact and reaching towards the same location multiple times.

After searching his vehicle, police found a gun, a conversion kit, body armor, binoculars, a laptop, and a notebook containing a diagram of the University of Delaware police department, including entry and exit points, "warfare techniques," and ways to avoid law enforcement detection, according to police.

In one section, he allegedly wrote, "kill all - martyrdom." In his post-arrest interview with police, he stated that becoming a martyr is "one of the greatest things you can do," and a goal of his, according to investigators.

Upon discovering the notebook, New Castle County Police immediately contacted the FBI, which took over the case.

"They broke the glass and threw flash bangs in," recalled Khan's next-door neighbor, who asked to only be identified as Mary. She was home as federal agents executed a search warrant on Khan's home in Wilmington last week. His windows are now boarded up.

The FBI says another handgun was found in Khan's home equipped with an illegal "switch" to convert it into a machine gun. Neither weapon found in his possession was registered.

Khan has no prior convictions. He's from Pakistan but moved to the United States as a child and is a legal citizen.

Khan is currently facing weapons charges but no charges regarding the threat against the police department. Those charges would come from the FBI, and that agency's investigation remains ongoing. Khan remains locked up.

Khan's neighbor, Mary, said Khan was a barber and she was looking for someone to cut her son's hair, who has autism. She allowed Khan to do it, and said he was friendly and talkative.

A few months ago, Mary noticed Khan's typical neighborly behavior had begun to change.

"He just went standoffish. So anytime anybody would say hi to him, he just completely ignored everyone," she said.

In a statement sent out to students, the University of Delaware said "this frightens us all," but went on to reassure students that "there are no known or immediate threats to the University of Delaware community."

"I've always felt very safe on this campus, so obviously hearing anything like that is obviously gonna be shocking," University of Delaware freshman Charlotte Ward said.

"That can be scary. I know things like this happen all the time, but I'm really happy that I learned about it through our school's email. I feel like that really helped me realize that our school has a good system set up to keep us safe," Laney Benc, also a freshman, told Action News.

Khan has been banned from all UD campuses while the investigation is underway, interim president Laura Carlson said in a statement.