AR-15, Grenades, Tactical Vest Found At Home Of Teen Who Took Gun To Maryland High School

The 18-year-old Maryland high school student accused of taking a loaded handgun and knife to school in Montgomery County, Maryland, last week, had a weapons cache at his home, including an AR-15-style rifle, multiple grenades, a detonator for C4 land mines, more guns, tactical vest, and a list of grievances, prosecutors said. The incident occurred one day after the mass school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida which left 17 children dead.

On Tuesday afternoon, Alwin Chen appeared at a Montgomery County District Court via closed-circuit television (CCTV) wearing glasses and a green jail jumpsuit. A judge ordered Chen, of Germantown, Maryland, to be held without bond, and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Chen was arrested after a school resource officer received information that he was concealing a loaded handgun in his AP Psychology class Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors also said he had a “list of grievances” in his possession at the time of the arrest.

“The list of grievances against students and school, possibly a motive for why he was going to use the gun,” assistant state’s attorney Frank Lazzaro asserted in open court. “This is about as dangerous of a situation that the court could possibly imagine.”

According to WJLA, an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to the District of Columbia, Chen told authorities his reasoning for the concealed loaded handgun was for “target practice” after school, but later changed his story and explained the weapon was for protection against bullies.

During police questioning, authorities say Chen changed his story. He initially stated he was going to “target practice” after school let out, but then explained he brought the two weapons to class for protective purposes because students had been harassing and bullying him.

Prosecutors also divulged that Chen had taken a gun to school on at least one prior occasion. However, they would not elaborate about when that offense occurred -or- if that information came to light before or after Chen’s arrest.

Later in the evening, a search warrant was served in Germantown, Maryland, where Chen lived with his parents.  Montgomery County Police were shocked when they found the following items:

  • Two rifles, two handguns, shotgun,
  • Ammunition
  • Inert grenades
  • Ballistic vest
  • Replica electrical firing device (referred to as a clacker) – NOTE: In open court, an officer stated they seized a “detonator for a C-4 land mine.” That appears to have been an incorrect statement.
  • Journal, which reportedly made no “threat nor any expression of wanting to cause harm to anyone at the school.” NOTE: This journal appears to be different than the “list of grievances” prosecutors repeatedly mentioned in court.

“He had written down a list of grievances and reasons why he brought the gun to school with him,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy stated Tuesday at the base of the courthouse steps. “He indicated that he had some difficulties with some other students in school, and because of those difficulties, he brought that gun to school.”

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A Facebook post written by a Florida “Teacher of the Year” for the 2017-2018 academic year has received more than 740k shares because it places the blame for mass shootings not on guns, but on modern American culture.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/2sRc9zd Tyler Durden

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