SEATTLE (AP) — A 13-year-old boy who police mentioned gave the impression to be fixated on faculty shooters was arrested on prices of illegal firearms possession and making a menace after they are saying they discovered social media posts about intentions to kill and seized 23 weapons and ammunition from his residence.
The boy pleaded not responsible to a complete of 5 prices, 4 of them felonies, in juvenile court docket on Monday, and he was ordered to stay in detention.
A SWAT crew raided his residence and arrested him round 1 a.m. Saturday in Washington’s Pierce County, south of Seattle. His mom advised a Seattle TV station their son had no intention of harming anybody.
Tactical-style rifles have been mounted on partitions and handguns have been discovered unsecured all through the house. Within the boy’s room — in a heavy backpack beneath a turtle habitat — have been AR-style magazines with writing on them referencing mass shootings, together with the 1999 taking pictures at Columbine Excessive College in Colorado, in line with a possible trigger assertion by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Investigators mentioned additionally they discovered “what gave the impression to be the face of a identified mass shooter positioned in a crude drawing,” and that in social media posts relationship again to June he had displayed weapons and dressed within the apparel of previous faculty shooters. In line with the possible trigger assertion, one publish mentioned, “when i flip 21 iam going to kill folks,” and one other mentioned, “its over! my time is nearly hear!”
An investigation into his dad and mom continues, sheriff’s Deputy Carly Cappetto mentioned in an e-mail Tuesday.
“We’re nonetheless conducting interviews, and it’ll in the end be as much as the prosecutor to resolve if they may cost dad and mom for improper storage and safekeeping of firearms or different crimes they really feel is becoming,” she wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.
The Related Press doesn’t typically establish juveniles dealing with legal prices. The boy’s prices embrace making a menace to bomb or injure property, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of fireworks.
Underneath Washington legislation, these underneath 18 are barred from possessing firearms besides in sure circumstances, together with searching, firearms security programs and taking pictures competitions. Unsafe storage of a firearm can also be against the law, which applies when an individual barred from having weapons accesses one and makes use of it in a taking pictures or in the course of the fee of against the law, or shows the firearm in a public place in a manner that’s supposed to intimidate or trigger alarm for the protection of others.
“It appeared the suspect had all the pieces able to go to commit a mass taking pictures sort of incident,” Cappetto mentioned. “It’s unknown who or what the supposed goal was going to be, but it surely’s clear it was a matter of time earlier than a tragic incident occurred.”
The boy’s mom, who attended the court docket listening to, advised in an interview afterward that the social media posts have been an try to “be cool” amongst friends, KOMO-TV reported.
Cappetto mentioned the boy was final enrolled within the Franklin Pierce College District in 2021. He was being homeschooled on the time of his arrest, in line with the possible trigger assertion.
The court docket scheduled a pretrial convention for Sept. 17 and a detention assessment for Sept. 22, the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Workplace mentioned in an e-mail.
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McCormack reported from Harmony, New Hampshire.
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