These stories always concern me. After all, this kid seemd pretty normal and well-adjusted, and was doing well in school.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building and admiring notations about the Columbine killers, authorities said Sunday.

Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police when 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield and they discovered the journal, said the town's police chief, Randall Lear.

The teen planned to make several bombs and had all the supplies needed to kill dozens at Chesterfield High School, depending on where the devices were placed and whether they included shrapnel, Lear said. Ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people.

"The only thing left was delivering the bombs," the police chief said.

Schallenberger kept a journal for more than a year that detailed his plans for a suicide attack and included maps of the school, police said. The writings did not include a specific time for the attack or the intended targets.

He also left an audio tape to be played after he died explaining why he wanted to bomb his school. Lear wouldn't detail what was on the tape except to say Schallenberger was an angry young man.

"He seemed to hate the world. He hated people different from him -- the rich boys with good-looking girlfriends," Lear said.

Clearly there was something up with this kid. How was it missed? Thank God his parents kept close enough tabs on him to discover the plan in time and report them to the police.

On a related note, I wonder if Obama and his supporters rush to the defense of this young man for engaging in activities that will simply be an embarrassment at middle age? Or does THIS bomber merit their condemnation?

Posted by: Greg at 10:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 339 words, total size 2 kb.