Attorney: Device at airport was welding material

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A Kentucky man's attorney says welding material he was carrying in his luggage prompted an evacuation at the Omaha airport.

Gabriel Copley, of Mount Sterling, Ky., is charged with possession of a destructive device. He was arrested Saturday after screeners found the suspicious item, believed to be a homemade firework, prompting an evacuation at Eppley Airfield.

Copley's attorney, James Martin Davis, said that he wrapped welding material together with duct tape. Davis said Copley was going to use it on the Fourth of July but forgot about it. Copley's father, Courtney Copley, said his son climbs communication towers and has been working in Nebraska. He said his son forgot he had the material in his luggage when he went to the airport to fly home for his sister's wedding. @Headline bold:Attorney: Device at airport was welding material