GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) -- A Gadsden man charged with placing a fake bomb outside a military recruiting office previously left a copy of the Ten Commandments at a federal court and claimed both were "gifts."

Chief Deputy Todd Entrekin said Donald Joe Argo, 47, told investigators he didn't mean to hurt anyone in either case.

"He just told us he leaves gifts everywhere," Entrekin said Friday.

A shopping center in Gadsden was evacuated Thursday when a package the size of a coffee can and topped with a red bow was discovered outside the recruiting office.

Authorities initially suspected the object was a bomb, Entrekin said, but an examination determined it could not have exploded.

"They opened it up. Inside it did have some ammunition, some shotgun shells, along with some .50-caliber rounds," he said. Explosive powder had been removed, he said.

"There also was a Batman-emblem medallion with knife blades on each side of it," Entrekin said.

Officers who went to Argo's home found a number of assault rifles and shotguns, including a sawed-off weapon that was in the back seat of a car the man had driven by the recruiting office during the bomb scare.

Following his arrest, Argo told investigators he had left a scroll with the Ten Commandments on it on the steps of the federal building in Gadsden a few weeks ago, Entrekin said. [...]