Alva Review-Courier -

Oklahoma City (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a mental competency evaluation for a man accused of trying to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van outside an Oklahoma City bank.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Shon Erwin ordered the evaluation Friday for 23-year-old Jerry Drake Varnell, who is charged with attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce.

Varnell's family says he's a paranoid schizophrenic who has been in numerous mental hospitals since he was 16 years old. Varnell' attorney, Terri Coulter, requested the examination, but withdrew it after she s...