Police discover "cache" of weapons at teen's home
Kudos to that Police Dept. for getting this arsenal of pellet guns of the street...
PHILADELPHIA - A home-schooled teenager who felt bullied amassed a cache of guns, knives and hand grenades 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 on Wednesday evening. He had talked about mounting a Columbine-type attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, authorities said.
The weapons included a 9mm 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, plus swords, knives, hand grenades, 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.
The search did not turn up any ammunition for the most dangerous firearm in the bunch, the assault rifle. Authorities said one grenade was operable and three others were still being assembled.
"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. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.
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.
PHILADELPHIA - A home-schooled teenager who felt bullied amassed a cache of guns, knives and hand grenades 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 on Wednesday evening. He had talked about mounting a Columbine-type attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, authorities said.
The weapons included a 9mm 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, plus swords, knives, hand grenades, 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.
The search did not turn up any ammunition for the most dangerous firearm in the bunch, the assault rifle. Authorities said one grenade was operable and three others were still being assembled.
"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. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.
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.
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i wonder what they would say about my collection. if they had it all laid out on tables it might look pretty cool on TV. 0 -
Red XIV: Or, from that description, just the ammo jars BBs come from.
And yeah, I have a hard time picturing his arsenal of swords to be anything but $15 Pakistani katanas and crap that you can buy at most any junk shop. That picture looks pretty impressive, but since all they mention is airguns in the article I assume they're all airsoft and the only real gun the kid owned was the nine which GASP OH poop HAS A PISTOL GRIP PSYCHO KILLER PSYCHO KILLER
Anyone who's got a collection of Columbine videos is pretty bleened up, but this kid's just an angry nerd. Lots of kids in my high school had their own little dork-arsenals of toy guns and cheap swords whose blades would fall off the handles if you didn't tape 'em on; nobody had thirty but aside from the Columbine movies, journal, and possibly hand grenades-that-aren't-hand grenades I had at least one of each of those things in my room when I was 14, and I wasn't even the scary kid in my class. Kinda feel sorry for this dude, and hope all the crap these bored hick cops are giving him doesn't actually make him into the nutcase they're trying to pass him off as. For christ's sake, he doesn't even go to a school, is he just going to pick one out of the phone book to shoot up?
Kodiakk: You can get bulk lots of cheap plastic airsoft guns on ebay, four to six for $40. They're not the crazy realistic metal-and-wood airsoft crap a lot of people go in for, but they're the right shape and mostly the right color, and with a crappy image like that that's all you need to make 'em look realistic.0 -
A possible school attack from a home-schooled kid? Who was he going to off? That creepy kid that looks at him from the other side of the bathroom mirror? 0 -
But his parents bought him an "assault rifle" and it's been a slow news week so obviously he's the next Dylan Kleibold. 0 -
I know nothing about AirSoft or other air guns. However, I have been told in one of the gun forums that I hang out in (I can't remember which) that some of the air guns out there are pretty powerful, and will do a whole lot more damage than giving you a welt or two. They're sending out pellets at 1000+ FPS. IMO, that's enough to cause serious damage and probably even death if you were struck in the right area.
That being the case (and I confirmed in a brief Google search that there are air guns capable of this), I'd classify this as "dangerous" although not to the degree that the MSM is making it out to be.
I don't think, if I were a parent, that I'd want my kids in school to be exposed to gunfire from a "high-powered" air gun.
Saying that, I'd also not blame a CCW holder or a LEO for taking this kid out as he marched upon the school with this "cache" of weapons.0 -
And, low and behold, here's a thread right here at GB today saying the same thing:
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2677060 -
Those "grenades" are the little plastic containers for airsoft (plastic)BBs, and are in no way dangerous; if one poured gunpowder into them, added a fuse, and lit it, you'd see a bright flash and have a melted container of melted plastic BBs.
Airsoft guns are not even capable of raising a welt through a t-shirt!
They are not the "high powered" airguns SS thinks they might be.
I've called all 4 TV stations in my area to explain what exactly the cops found, but strangely, none of the talking heads have heeded my warnings about losing all credibility. I even pointed out the little orange discs affixed to the muzzles of the toys,and explained that Mfrs. do this to keep the media honest.
ABC called the stash an arsenal, NBC called it a cache of assault weapons and hand grenades, CBS called it a deranged killer's arsenal of cached assault weapons and homemade bombs.0 -
Note just to add: that CNN's coverage was just as sensationalistic and miss-informed as Fox's was yesterday. That states atty. should be tarred n' feathered for stirring up such crap.
You would think The Duke incident with the rugby players would have been lesson enough for that.0 -
I think (gun owners)we should file a class action lawsuit against the media and the law enforcement agency. The flagrant sensationalism of this incident has caused irreperable harm to gun owners and we deserve compensation AND a public appology. Who's in? 0 -
***Update***
NORRISTOWN, Pa. - The mother of a 14-year-old who authorities say had a cache of guns, knives and explosive devices in his bedroom for a possible school attack was charged Friday with buying her son three weapons.
Michele Cossey bought her home-schooled son a .22-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a 9 mm semiautomatic rifle, authorities said. The teenager felt bullied and tried to recruit another boy for the possible attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, authorities said.
Acting on a tip from a high school student and his father, police on Wednesday found the rifle, about 30 air-powered guns, swords, knives, a bomb-making book, videos of the 1999 Columbine attack in Colorado and violence-filled notebooks in the boy's bedroom, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said.
Cossey, 46, of Plymouth Meeting, bought the rifle, which had a laser scope, at a gun show on Sept. 23 and provided police with a receipt, investigators said in court papers. The teenager said the two .22-caliber weapons were stored at a friend's house.
The teen was ordered Friday to remain in juvenile detention.
His mother was charged with unlawful transfer of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a minor, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of reckless endangerment.
Police, who searched home with the permission of the teen's parents, also discovered seven explosive devices Castor has described as homemade grenades: plastic containers filled with pellets 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.0 -
quote:Originally posted by spanielsells
And, low and behold, here's a thread right here at GB today saying the same thing:
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=267706
Airsoft and pellet guns are two different things. I have a couple high dollar airsoft guns and they won't allow a person to go on a homocidal rampage. Point blank they might break the skin if you get a good airsoft gun.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Rack Ops
His mother was charged with unlawful transfer of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a minor, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of reckless endangerment.
So when I take kids shooting I am corrupting a minor?0 -
quote:Originally posted by yawarakai
quote:Originally posted by Rack Ops
His mother was charged with unlawful transfer of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a minor, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of reckless endangerment.
So when I take kids shooting I am corrupting a minor?
That's coming.0
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