Robert Johns, S.F. Man Found With Enough Ammo for Mass Murder, Had List of Politicians (Update)

KTVU

Robert Johns

Update (3:44 p.m.): Police have released photos of Robert Johns' weapon cache. Check it out after the jump. Also, it seems that Johns has changed his story about how he planned to use those weapons. Initially, he said he never intended to hurt anyone, and that the collection was nothing more than a hobby. But Police Chief Greg Suhr said today at a press conference that Johns told officers he had plans to hurt a family member, although the cops would not tell us who.

Original story (7:40 a.m.): Earlier this week police confirmed they had arrested a homeless man after finding a disturbing stash of weaponry in his car -- a day after the mass shootings in Colorado. If that wasn't enough to keep you on your toes, the suspect, Robert Johns, also had a list of high-profile politicians in tow.

KTVU talked to Johns in jail, where they learned all sorts of interesting information, like how Johns claims he was born twice. Johns also told reporters that his cache of weapons, which included a sawed-off shotgun, a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, 14 knives, and 5,000 rounds of ammunition, was just a hobby of his. He says the ammunition was given to him for his birthday(s) -- which perhaps explains why there was so much of it.

But what really caught our interest was the curious list of elected officials -- including President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner -- he had with him. Here's how the suspect explains that.

Jeff Sandstoe

That's quite a "collection"

"I was learning politics and politicians, who they were as I saw them on TV," Johns said. "I wanted to be able to identify them and their positions." He told KTVU he had "no intention of shooting anyone. It's in no way related to the [Aurora] shootings and I had no intention of harm."

But police aren't convinced, and insist Johns is enough of a danger to the community that those guns won't be making their way back into his hands, at least not the ones they confiscated.

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