Cops: Columbine-Style Plot Foiled In Pa.

14-Year-Old Who Felt Bullied Amassed Guns, Knives And Grenades For Possible School Attack

(CBS/AP)  A home-schooled teenager amassed a cache of guns, knives and explosive devices and tried to recruit another boy for a possible school attack, authorities said Thursday.

The 14-year-old was taken into custody after police searched his bedroom in a Philadelphia suburb Wednesday evening. He had talked about mounting a Columbine-type attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, authorities said.

CBS News correspondent Maggie Rodriguez reports that officials here know the young suspect's motive: He felt bullied by the students at Plymouth Whitemarsh. But the plot for revenge was foiled when the young man tried to seek out an accomplice who led police to the suspect's house and a disturbing arsenal.

The weapons included a 9 mm assault rifle that the teenager's mother had recently bought for him, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said. Prosecutors are reviewing her actions.

Police also found about 30 air-powered guns, swords, knives, a bomb-making book, videos of the 1999 Columbine attack in Colorado and violence-filled notebooks, Castor said. The weapons were plainly visible in the boy's bedroom, Castor said.

Also discovered were seven explosive devices Castor described as homemade grenades: plastic containers filled with BBs to which gunpowder could be added. Authorities said one grenade was operable and the others had been in the process of being assembled.

The search did not turn up any ammunition for the most dangerous firearm in the bunch, the assault rifle.

"I do not think an attack was imminent and I am not certain that an attack was going to occur at all," Castor said at a news conference. "It could have simply been big talking by a kid who thought that he was bullied previously and he was going to exact his revenge."

The teen previously attended middle school in the district but had been taught at home for more than a year after voluntarily leaving school, Castor said.

Plymouth Township police searched the home after getting a tip Wednesday from a high school student and his father.

The teen was charged as a juvenile with solicitation to commit terror and other counts and was being held at a youth facility. He was due in court for an initial appearance Friday morning.

A call to the county Public Defender's Office, which was representing the youth, rang unanswered after business hours.

Castor declined to name the suspect's parents and said he did not think they had retained lawyers.

"They are now under investigation by us, concerning whether there's any complicity in putting the weapon in this boy's hands," Castor said.

The arrest came the same day a 14-year-old in Ohio opened fire at his Cleveland high school, wounding four before killing himself.

Classes were held as usual Thursday at the Pennsylvania high school.

[michellem99-2009]

Cops will shot any one who points a real or toy gun that looks real as they can''t tell the difference. So whine as the constutions said yer have the right to bear arms and with that right yer to use it properly, stow it, clean it,keep its bullets stowed,out of the hands of kids,know gun safety,etc. There are persons who should not have access to guns. A hot head should not. There are shootings here every day and that is Seattle.

[tiger7654321]

I posted this earlier, but it must have been removed. I said earlier that CBS did some bad reporting here by implying in the video that the kid had 30 "real" weapons, not just 3. If you watch the video, they display what appears to be 30 or more weapons, and they make you think that they are all real. But read the story, and you find out only 3 were real, and 2 were 22 cal. and one a 9mm. So the display of 30 or more toys is made to look like this kid really had an arsenal. CBS didn''t point out this important fact and just tried to let it slip by. CBS news did a real bad job here. No wonder most people don''t trust your news. Bob

[nonbeliever2]

As a gun owner, people who abuse my second amendment rights to own anything I wish to legally infuriate me. However, reporters who feel free to juice any gun story for the purpose of ratings, or to push their socialistic agenda of gun confiscation make me just as mad. Why don''t we try something different for a change? Why not arm all the honest people. The professors, the principals, the coaches, the pilots?
Shootings are always going to happen, guns or no guns. Any policy to "control" the problem is a joke because criminals whether they be American, or British, or Australian, or Canadian, DO NOT CARE. The only ones who do care, are the honest citizens, those who are later victimized by the criminal. Or worse, a government which may at some point turn on them as history has shown. Face it! Gun control and confiscation is a pipe dream. Its time to arm the honest citizen!

[nonbeliever2]

Lets see... FIRST The news wire was a buzz about this kid having over 30 arms including AK-47''s and an MP5 FULLY AUTO machine gun which his mom had purchased as a present. Now we find out that ALL of those arms EXCEPT ONE were just air guns made out to look like assult rifles. And the one true gun was a semi-auto. Not to mention NO AMMO was even found! Im not defending the kid, obviously he had problems. Not to mention the fact that mom and dad are probably the worst parents in the world. But when journalism goes so far out of their way to slam the guns in reporting a story that people consider if their reporting is HONEST if not FABRICATED all together, something has to be said about over sensationalism.

[michellem99-2009]

crzmeat Dear . That is not a smart idea..Yer may ask why..We in Maine went to small schools in our day. The kids,parents today get hot headed/in a rage. Therefore the use of a gun would not be a good idea or to teach the basics of as their minds should be on learning to be good ciztens. I say say manners be taught. If they would have gun safety lessons then the age and if they are able to use the lessons with an adult that can teach such a course if that is allowed.

[gunownerdan]

"Terrorists could care less if their victims are armed or not"
Posted by toldyouso21

Wrong!
On 9/11 the terrorists used BOX-CUTTERS to hijack the planes. If there was just one armed pilot or air-marshall on each plane, the whole tragedy could have been avoided. And suicide bombers can sometimes be easy to spot. It would be best for everyone if these terrorists were stopped by one of their intended victims.
Self Defense-
a-human-right.com

[gilb7386]

I believe that it is getting tougher to grow up in todays society. There are more things/problems/situations making our children to lose their way. Making them unable to cope and adjust. And I am sorry to say, I don''''t believe it is going to get better. As all these(things/problems/situations) progress and intensify, so does our youths anger and frustration, and being youthful they act out.

[homerjay2007]

Typical leading %u201Creporting%u201D.

The kid has been home schooled for the last 18 months, having been pulled out of that high school specifically because of the level of bullying, but note how %u201Chome schooled%u201D is put right up there at the top because the press knows how %u201Canti-social%u201D home schooled kids are. (Not to mention that they are desperate to deflect criticism of the fact that nearly all kids who do actually attack others at school are inmates of those schools.)

Oh, and %u201Cbe very afraid%u201D %u2013 the %u201Chomeschooled%u201D teenager had an %u201Carsenal%u201D of weapons. Made up of a bunch of knives (gasp!), a bunch of BB-guns (eek!), a 22 rifle and pistol (now we%u2019re getting serious!), a 9MM rifle (heaven help us), and even some WMD%u2019s!!! (A couple of %u201Chome made grenades%u201D made of black powder and BB%u2019s.)

Fortunately, police apparently didn%u2019t find any smuggled nuclear devices or messages from %u201CIslamofacist terrorists%u201D.

Yeah, the kid was disturbed, and it%u2019s probably a good thing they picked up on it before he did do anything, but good grief %u2013 the reporting on this is completely retarded, fear-mongering claptrap.

America, home of the chickens and land of the slave.

Homer

[nolalou]

darkmeat4, stop blaming CBS for "yellow jounalism". This kid was arrested, and it was widely reported by all media, not just CBS! This kid was looking for an accomplice to mass murder, and that person informed on him. In addition to the weapons, he had books and videos on bomb making, and the Columbine murders. This is a disturbed kid who may or may not have followed up on his threats! If the police had just ignored it, and then he went on to do something , you''d be the first to complain !

[notblue]

It''s time once again to let the teachers of America take back the control that has been lost by liberal policies. It''s time to reinstate the concept personal rsponsibility and respect.

[yoopermom]

One thing no one has mentioned is the young man that told the police about this kids plans. Whether this kid was seriously a danger or not, the young man that turned him in should be commended. Too many times people don''t get involved and then when something tragic happens everyone is blaming them for keeping quiet.

[toldyouso21]

It''''s just a big talking kid!


Posted by Hillary_2008 at 09:11 AM : Oct 12, 2007

Yep. A lot of people at Columbine and VA Tech thought those people were just talking too--that''s why nobody did anything to stop them. So how can YOU tell when the big talk is more than just words? Big talkers run their mouths--but they don''t usually back that up with real weapons, diaries, videos, etc---big talk is just empty air--when someone backs that up in substance with real weapons--best to not gamble on it being just talk. Word is--at that Success Academy in Cleaveland, everyone just thought Asa **** was just talking big too.

"Big talking or not" would you want to gamble with your life or your kid''s life around such a person? Because if you are wrong--the price you or your kid paid would be very high. Never let your mouth write a check that your azz won''t want to cash.

[toldyouso21]

When we see illiteracy in the ghetto--it is OUR problem, drugs, prostitution, illegitimate babies, violence, police brutality--we can address it when the problem is small or keep ignoring it and then when it is used--act shocked. We are all connected. In the the 1970s, teen gangs was very much a fringe activity even in Black areas. With the changes in the drugs of choice, gangs rose to prominence--with making money AND protecting or exploiting neighborhoods being prevalent. Crack was the horror drug in the 1980s among minorities, Cocaine was the drug of choice by whites. By the 1990s, Crystal meth was the drug of choice by whites. Gangs were on the rise, as was teen pregnancy. Now today more than 67% of adult Americans are said to read at or below a 6th grade level. Only 3 Americans in 100 read at least one book per month (mags and newspapers not counted). There goes literacy. Our own President cannot speak English even remotely correctly.

More and more, the new Rodney King beatings are whites with "don''t tase me bro" and videos of women being beaten or tasered by cops making the rounds. More and more kids are ending up missing or dead and more men are killing their girlfriends or wives. Women are now joining men in killing their spouses and mass killings at schools are almost a norm?

Almost all of these things were ignored when it was an inner city problem, as if families do not move and new kids do not introduce new tactics and mindsets. .

[yoopermom]

My son, 36 now, had a set bedtime, ate meals with family, had household duties, needed permission to leave our house, but was not allowed out of our neighborhood. As he grew into a young man of high school age, I still knew who his friends were, where he was going, & was expected home by curfew. He still had his moments,& suffered the consequences, but thank God, he was never in any real trouble.

Posted by MissUT2
Sounds very close to how my boys (ages 18, 16 & 13) are being raised. They are also good students, polite and always looking for ways to help others. They hold doors open for women and older people and they take care of the yards for our elderly neighbors. And they all own guns. Riffles, air guns and of course, paint ball guns. And I have bought most of these for them. They have been taught gun safety, and not just the %u201Ccrash course%u201D offered by the DNR.

Now a BIG difference from me and the mother in this story, my kids do not have their weapons lying around their bedrooms. They do not have total access to them. They are locked and kept in my room. I do not feel the younger boys are at a point that they are responsible enough to have complete access to them, so I would rather have them come to me for them.

[hillary_2008]

It''s just a big talking kid!

[toldyouso21]

For a long time, escalating violence in schools was something associated with urban areas and most of us , thought of it as a separate disease in a world that could never touch ours. The same is true of police brutality--we saw it happening and certain races targeted but we pretended it was all legitimate and did nothing again.

Now here we are: the violence is in small towns as well as cities and all colors are getting killed. The police are tasering and shooting whites as well as anyone else and we act shocked. the point is--the things that are going wrong in this country cannot be ignored just because it is happening elsewhere or to people different from you. Because the universal rule is that if it starts out targeting one group it is like a disease that will infect everyone. So now there are big drug problems in suburbia, kids being snatched and murdered in suburbia, cops gone wild and hurting people (and getting caught on tape) in suburbia--and the guns have come and the horror has come. The sad fact is, we ignored it when it was some other group or in some other city --it is like Edgar Allens story :"The masque of the Red Death" the people locked themselves in and thought they were special and would be immune--and by the time they realized the same evil was among them too--it was too late.

[toldyouso21]

Terrorists and other criminals will always prefer unarmed victims.

Posted by gunownerdan at 07:39 AM : Oct 12, 2007

Criminals may prefer unarmed victims--but you should have left terrorists out of your argument. Terrorists could care less if their victims are armed or not--since they mostly operate by blowing them up from a distance. Imagine everyone in the WTC had a gun--when the planes crashed into them and the buildings fell, what would the guns have been good for? Killing themselves before they burned to death?

Now fast forward to Iraq and the many bombings there--and the killing of soldiers--notice something? Most terrorism these days are with bombs that can be operated by cell phones or with fuel trucks or other vehicles slamming into structures--guns would have no use in any of these.

But I do agree that in the case of a criminal, an armed person is less likely to be targeted than an unarmed person--that is just common sense. Then again--terrorists are ready to die for their causes and don''t care--criminals usually want to live to use what they take--so one has an incentive to not want confrontation, for the other--if they accomplish their goal--they don''t care.

[toldyouso21]

Responsible teachers who choose to carry concealed weapons to protect themselves and others should be allowed to do so even on school property.
a-human-right.com Posted by gunownerdan at 07:39 AM : Oct 12, 2007
I disagree. What happens when the "responsible teacher* flips out for some reason like that cop just did in Wisconsin--killing 6? Zero tolerance is school should be the rule--because quite frankly there is NO test that can guarantee which teacher or student is stable and which has a problem just waiting to boil over.

Witness how many of our teachers are involved in molestations and altercations with students--now add guns to the mix--because I can guarantee you--if teachers are allowed to carry guns with impunity, students will get them also--then schools can really become shootouts of the OK corral.

The saddest part is--when these bullied and intimidated kids decide to rampage--often their victims include people who did nothing to them and may not have even known them. The modus operandi is not for them to strike back at a specific bully (so think long and hard about the bully connection) it is to "pay society back"

When Cho spoke of payback in his video, his main thrust was not how others picked on him it was a litany of his jealousy for all others had and he did not. There is no cure for such ugliness or the need of the child to destroy everything because they are on the outside.

[toldyouso21]

How does a 14-year-old have access to these weapons??


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Posted by oleander8 at 07:56 AM : Oct 12, 2007


According to the article, at least the 9mm was bought by the boy''s mother. Also, all the other weapons were in plain sight in the kid''s bedroom so probably they were all there with the parents knowledge. No doubt they were really proud of their boy and imagined he''d grow up to be a man''s man in the special forces or something. Mom was just helping him along.

[oleander8]

"14-Year-Old Who Felt Bullied Amassed Guns, Knives And Grenades For Possible School Attack"

How does a 14-year-old have access to these weapons??