A 13-year-old Washington boy allegedly “obsessed” with previous college shooters was arrested after police discovered a stockpile of weapons, packing containers of ammunition, and chilling writings suggesting he was plotting his personal killing spree.
The teenager suspect, who has not been recognized, was taken into custody after police raided his Tacoma dwelling at 1 a.m. upon receiving quite a few suggestions he had “college shooter ideations,” made deadly threats, and bragged about his entry to firearms, in keeping with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Police seized 23 weapons — some reportedly do-it-yourself with a 3D-printer — together with loaded magazines scrawled with “college shooter” writings and menacing clothes tied to a mass capturing incident.
“It appeared the suspect had all the things able to go to commit a mass capturing sort of incident,” Deputy Carly Cappetto mentioned in a video posted Monday on Fb.
“It’s unknown who or what the meant goal was going to be however it’s clear it was solely a matter of time earlier than a tragic incident occurred.”
Surprising footage launched by the sheriff’s workplace confirmed lengthy weapons and black AR-15s laid out on tables, with about eight handguns scattered on the ground and 6 giant tan packing containers of ammo.
A lot of the firearms have been discovered mounted on the partitions all through the teenager’s dwelling, whereas handguns have been left unsecured, Cappetto mentioned.
Authorities additionally discovered a “go bag” within the alleged would-be-killer’s bed room, filled with a number of packing containers of ammo and AR-style magazines, some marked with scribbles referencing mass shootings, together with the Columbine Excessive College bloodbath, in keeping with court docket paperwork obtained by a number of retailers.
Different proof collected recommended the troubled boy — who hasn’t been enrolled at school since 2021 — idolized previous college shooters, imitating their behaviors via pictures and inscriptions scattered all through his room.
The disturbed teen additionally shared alarming posts on social media courting again to June, exhibiting him holding weapons and referencing Columbine and the 2022 Ulvalde, Texas elementary college tragedy, cops mentioned.
One submit confirmed the barrel of a semi-automatic rifle protruding of what gave the impression to be a mandolin case worn as a backpack, captioned: “U’d by no means expedct it [sic],” court docket paperwork obtained by NBC Information mentioned.
The alleged aspiring mass shooter was charged with tried risk to bomb/injure a college, second-degree illegal possession of a firearm, and illegal possession of fireworks.
His mother and father haven’t been charged, the outlet reported.
The arrest comes practically two weeks after deranged transgender gunman Robin Westman, 23, slaughtered two youngsters and injured at the very least 17 others at a Catholic college in Minneapolis.
Westman’s sick manifesto, written nearly solely in Cyrillic, confessed a love of violence and a lifelong obsession with mass shooters — together with Sandy Hook killer Adam Lanza — in addition to the chilling acknowledgement, “I’ve had ideas about mass homicide for a very long time.”
