Police say there had been signs for months that a middle school student in San Antonio wanted to kill someone. When his grandma walked into his room on Sunday, they became more important.
A court document says that she found rifle and pistol magazines “loaded with live ammunition” and an explosive that she had made herself.
The grandmother called the cops the next morning while the boy’s mother took him to school.
Ashley Pardo, the mother, who is 33 years old, was caught on Monday and charged with helping to carry out a terrorist act. The police say she gave her son guns and other tactical gear as payment for watching her younger brothers.
A Bexar County arrest affidavit obtained by CNN station KSAT says Pardo bought the materials even though she knew her son was obsessed with violence. In the statement, it is said that Pardo “intentionally and knowingly helped” her son.
An angry San Antonio police chief said Thursday, “Her behavior is not only dangerous, it’s abhorrent, especially as a parent.”
The affidavit says, “The Defendant told the school that she supports her son’s violent expressions and drawings and does not feel concerned for his behavior.” The child’s notes are said to show an interest in mass shooters and White nationalist symbols.
A police report said that the alleged plan made people at his school “even more afraid of serious bodily injury.”
The statement says the boy went to school on May 12 “wearing a mask, camouflage jacket and tactical pants” and then left soon after. The affidavit says that school leaders were afraid he would come back to attack if police couldn’t find him. Authorities say that extra security was put in place by sending more police officers and searching the school for possible devices.
Following this, the student was taken into custody off-campus and charged with a crime, Jeremiah Rhodes Middle School wrote to parents on Monday.
In the letter, the school’s principal said, “Please know that we take all possible threats very seriously and will act right away to protect everyone in our care.” “We will always be on the lookout to make sure our place of work and learning is safe and secure.” At SAISD schools, keeping students safe is very important, and we want to let families know about things as soon as we can.
The child’s name has not been made public, and court papers for juvenile cases are not open to the public. McManus said the student stayed in juvenile custody Thursday afternoon.