3 Arrested In High School Bomb Plot

Mother Of One Wis.Teen Suspect Says Boys Were Victims Of Bullying

(AP) 
Court Commissioner Jane Sequin ordered Sturtz and Cornell jailed on $500,000 bond Friday. Netwal was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Monday.

East High School Principal Ed Dorff said the student who came forward to alert authorities to the plan asked school officials to maintain the student's anonymity.

Green Bay Police Capt. Karl Fleury said the case remains under investigation. "We are taking it where it leads us."

Police Detective Tom Molitor testified at a hearing Friday that the 17-year-olds told police they had been plotting the massacre for several years. Besides the bombs near bathrooms, they planned to light the exits on fire with jelled gasoline so no one could escape, he said.

However, Sturtz's mother said her son and Cornell did not become close friends until last year so they could not have plotted for years.

Police found nine rifles and shotguns, a handgun, about 20 "crudely made" explosive devices, camouflage clothing, gas masks, two-way radios and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at Cornell's house, Police Capt. Lisa Sterr said. She said Cornell had made several of the improvised explosive devices about two months ago.

At Sturtz's home, they found knives and ammunition, Sterr said.

The two teens had long been fascinated by the April 1999 Columbine massacre in Littleton, Colo., in which two students armed with guns, knives and bombs killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves, Sterr said.

Sturtz's mother said her son was kicked out of the school last year for bringing a knife because he felt he needed protection. He was assigned to an alternative school for the last part of the year. She said she called the principal and social workers to alert them to her son being bullied but no one ever called back.

"He didn't want to go to school because of the kids and he knew the teachers wouldn't do anything because we tried last year," the mother said.

Public schools Superintendent Daniel Nerad said he did not know the specifics of the teen's situation but said the school district has made stopping bullying a priority.

The mother said her son liked to watch television and play video games and used to work busing tables at a local ballroom. He had trouble reading, she said.

No one answered the door Saturday at Cornell's home and no phone number could be found for Netwal.