One arrested, others investigated in alleged school-shooting plot

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 4:54 a.m.

The allegations surfaced on Wednesday when one student who heard of the alleged plot became frightened and told a parent, who contacted school authorities, Police Chief Rod Pellegrini said.

A joint investigation by police and the Lyon County Sheriff's Office turned up shotgun and handgun ammunition in the arrested youth's backpack. No weapons were found on campus, though several, believed to belong to the boy's father, were found at his home.

The boy was charged with having explosive devices at school. Additional charges were being considered.

The suspect was taken to juvenile detention in Carson City and remained in custody. The others being investigated have not been arrested and were released to their parents. All are between 15 and 16 years old and were described by officials as "good kids" who never created problems in the past.

"The message that we got was that this kid basically had a plan," Pellegrini said on Thursday.

Officers also found a diagram of the school gymnasium and what appeared to be a target list of victims that included teachers and other students, Pellegrini said.

Pellegrini said the arrested youth allegedly tried to get others involved in the plot to "cover" the school exits so that no one could leave.

According to others, "He said he'd kill himself in front of everybody if everything went bad," Pellegrini said.

"The kid's comment was that it was just a joke that got out of hand," the chief said. "I hope it was, but we are taking it seriously.

"We don't have any evidence that he wasn't going to go through with it."

A Christmas assembly was scheduled for Friday, but it was unknown if that was the date picked for the alleged attack, authorities said.

School officials have since canceled the assembly, and armed officers were called in to patrol the hallways and grounds for the rest of the week.