The mother of one of two teens accused of plotting a ‘Columbine-style’ massacre at their school is shocked that her son could be involved.
The pair, aged 16 and 18, were charged over an alleged plan to attack students using guns, knives and homemade bombs at the school in Renmark, west of Adelaide.
The 18-year-old’s mother, who can’t be named, said police raided their home several times in the past month looking for weapons, but only found a knife.
The mother of one of two teens accused of plotting a ‘Columbine-style’ massacre their school is shocked that her son could be involved
The teenager’s brother (pictured), who lived with him, said the family was in shock when he was arrested and he was never suspicious of his activities
‘He’s got a great personality… he’s no angel, even he won’t say that, but he’s not someone that everyone now perceives him to be, she told the Adelaide Advertiser.
‘He’s not the cold-hearted psychopath that he was painted out to be.
‘He wasn’t aggressive, he would have opinions but he would come back and would say what he thinks was wrong.’
But 10 weeks before his arrest on November 7, the teenager allegedly made a seemingly innocuous Facebook post containing song lyrics by pop punk band Knuckle Punk.
‘My mind was a fortress you knew how to rupture. Flanking the trenches and storming my bunker,’ he allegedly wrote.
Then came an alleged reply: ‘Shooting up schools, putting kids in their slumber. Which gun should I choose, oh how I wonder.’
The pair, aged 16 and 18, were charged over an alleged plan to attack students using guns, knives and homemade bombs at the school
The teenagers have been charged with planning a ‘Columbine-style’ (pictured) shooting at a school in South Australia
Police were investigating whether this was proof the young man was discussing the alleged plot long before police got wind of it.
His heartbroken mother insisted her son was a ‘fun-loving kid’ always ready to help others, and left school three years ago after being bullied.
The boy knew his 16-year-old co-accused when they attended the same school but they only recently started hanging out.
His mother said her son recently was trying to stay away from the younger teen and ‘ignore him as much as he could’.
She said his life went ‘downhill’ in the past few months, including staying in hospital, due to relationship issues, but he recently was doing better and found a job.
The young man’s mother said he hoped to save money to move out with his girlfriend and travel around Australia.
She said police told her very little and she only heard about her son’s charges through the news.
Des Bray (pictured), the head of major crime in South Australia, said this was as close to a U.S-style school shooting as Australia had ever come
The teenager’s brother, who lived with him, said the family was in shock when he was arrested and he was never suspicious of his activities.
‘You don’t think something like that could happen in this community let alone your own family,’ he told Seven News.
‘It’s really hard to put your mind around it, to imagine something like that on such a scale. There was never anything to suggest anything was ever going on.’
However, the brother praised police for stopping the alleged plot before it was carried out, and hoped to visit the teenager in prison soon.
‘You’ve got to stand by your family as much as you can. Sometimes it can be a very, very hard thing to do,’ he said.
The former best friend of one of the accused said he first noticed a change in the teenager when he began using his garage to make unusual objects.
‘He made a knuckle-buster (sic) and Wolverine-type claws out the end of it,’ the friend told told Nine News.
‘He was a good kid. No doubt about it. But I think something just changed in him… We used to be best mates [so] to see this happen just really surprised me.’
15 people died when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (pictured) opened fire on Columbine High School on April 20, 1999
The teenagers had allegedly plotted to ‘kill as many people as possible’ in the attack, which they are accused of planning to carry out before the end of this school term.
Police said on Wednesday they believed there would have been significant casualties if the attack had gone ahead, but the alleged plot was thwarted when fellow students alerted police.
‘We’re extremely grateful to those students who came to us with this information,’ Detective Superintendent Des Bray said.
He said this was as close to a U.S-style school shooting as Australia had ever come.
‘There is no doubt in my mind that we’ve prevented a major catastrophe,’ Mr Bray said.
‘Police will allege that they intended to cause harm to a large number of people, however this plan was thwarted.
‘There is no evidence to show that any other persons were linked with this matter, not did the two individuals have possession of firearms.’
The principal of the school in the Riverland region has been praised by the education minister for keeping parents informed over the alleged plot
The principal of the school in the Riverland region was praised by the education minister for keeping parents informed about the alleged plot.
‘I have to pay tribute to the principal who has in this case shown extraordinary leadership and a very steady hand,’ Susan Close told ABC radio on Thursday.
‘In any community, but particularly in regional South Australia people know each other well and it really hits close to home.’
The 16-year-old will face court on December 5, charged with soliciting to kill. Police will oppose bail.
The 18-year-old will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in January charged with aggravated counts of threatening to kill.
The pair had allegedly been planning the attack on the school in the small town close to the Victorian border since June.
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