Teen hijacker had plans to bomb school

Keith Paul

Monday, April 29, 2002 | 11:23 a.m.

A 15-year-old armed with a Samurai sword hijacked a school bus this morning as part of a plan to blow up Pahrump High School, Nye County Sheriff's officials told the Sun.

The boy was caught in California after leading police on a high-speed chase. No one else was on the bus.

He and a second 15-year-old boy, who was not on the bus, were arrested on charges of conspiracy. Both teens attend Pahrump High School.

Assistant Sheriff Rick Marshall, commander of the department's Pahrump substation, said this morning that the investigation is looking at other students who may have taken part in the plot.

After catching the boy, police found plans to blow up Pahrump High School with gas bombs.

"He had three pages of schematics from the school and indicated on them where he was going to plant the bombs," Marshall said. "We checked the areas and didn't find any explosives. He said that he didn't have time to implement that part of his plan."

Police found shotgun shells and rifle rounds in the boy's backpack. The handwritten notes on the schematics indicated that the ammunition would be taped together and soaked in gasoline and set on fire.

The school was evacuated this morning after the plan was discovered. No explosives have been found, but Nye County Sheriff's deputies conducted a locker-by-locker, room-by-room search of the school buildings, Marshall said.

Once the boy was apprehended after a chase into California, a written plan to blow up the school and school schematics were found on him.

The boy took the bus about 7:30 a.m. this morning after ordering the driver to get out of the bus, but leave the keys in the ignition. The bus driver was not injured.

The boy drove the school bus away, but was quickly chased by police. He rammed one of the police cars and then drove out of Pahrump hitting speeds of 65 to 70 mph.

"He was driving in the desert and then going back the other way and then back on to the road," Marshall said. "It looked like he didn't know where he wanted to go. But getting the bus to 65 or 70 (mph) is a lot for kid not experienced in driving."

California Highway Patrol troopers put spike strips along California Highway 178, but the boy tried to avoid them and rolled the bus. He was not severely injured, Marshall said. He was taken into custody in California about 8:10 a.m.

The boy, and his alleged accomplice in Pahrump, were interviewed by police this morning. Neither boy's name was released because they are juveniles. The first boy faces assault with a deadly weapon and carjacking charges. He likely will face other charges, officials said.

Marshall said police didn't know of any trouble the boy had been in previously, but did not know if he was having trouble at school or if he was a student at that school.

"All indications were that he is a normal kid," Marshall said.

The boy had not indicated what part the school bus would play in the alleged plan to blow up the school or where the gas bombs were located or if they had been manufactured yet.