Police are investigating a Facebook exchange involving one of two Adelaide teenagers accused of planning a Columbine massacre-inspired school shooting.
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.
A Facebook post made 10 weeks ago led police to believe the teen was discussing the alleged plot for months.
The mother of the 18-year-old, who can’t be named, said she was shocked to learn of her son’s involvement.
Two teenage boys, 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 mother of one of the boys said police raided their home several times in the past month looking for weapons, but only found a knife
The brother (pictured) of the 18-year-old charged said the family was in shock when he was arrested and he was never suspicious of his activities
She said police had raided their home several times in the past month looking for weapons, but only found a knife.
‘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.’
The teenagers have been charged with planning a ‘Columbine-style’ (pictured) shooting at a school in South Australia
His mother insisted her son was a ‘fun-loving kid’ who was always ready to help others, and who left school three years ago after being bullied.
The boy knew his 16-year-old co-accused because they attended the same school, but that they only recently started hanging out together.
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 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 said they will allege the two suspects intended to cause harm to a large number of people.
There is no evidence to show that any other persons were involved, and the two suspects did not have firearms to carry out the alleged plot, they said.
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 since June.
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