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This image provided by Pierce County Sheriff\u2019s Office on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 shows containers with weapons seized from the home of a 13-year-old boy in Pierce County, Wa., who authorities said had appeared to idolize school shooters. (Pierce County Sheriff\u2019s Office via AP)<\/p>\n
This image provided by Pierce County Sheriff\u2019s Office on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 shows containers with weapons seized from the home of a 13-year-old boy in Pierce County, Wa., who authorities said had appeared to idolize school shooters. (Pierce County Sheriff\u2019s Office via AP)<\/p>\n
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A SWAT team raided his home and arrested him around 1 a.m. Saturday in Washington\u2019s Pierce County, south of Seattle. His mother told a Seattle TV station their son had no intention of harming anyone.<\/p>\n
Tactical-style rifles were mounted on walls and handguns were found unsecured throughout the home. In the boy\u2019s room \u2014 in a heavy backpack beneath a turtle habitat \u2014 were AR-style magazines with writing on them referencing mass shootings, including the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, according to a probable cause statement by the Pierce County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
Investigators said they also found \u201cwhat appeared to be the face of a known mass shooter placed in a crude drawing,\u201d and that in social media posts dating back to June he had displayed weapons and dressed in the attire of past school shooters. According to the probable cause statement, one post said, \u201cwhen i turn 21 iam going to kill people,\u201d and another said, \u201cits over! my time is almost hear!\u201d <\/p>\n
An investigation into his parents continues, sheriff\u2019s Deputy Carly Cappetto said in an email Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still conducting interviews, and it will ultimately be up to the prosecutor to decide if they will charge parents for improper storage and safekeeping of firearms or other crimes they feel is fitting,\u201d she wrote in an email Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press does not generally identify juveniles facing criminal charges. The boy\u2019s charges include making a threat to bomb or injure property, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of fireworks.<\/p>\n
Under Washington law, those under 18 are barred from possessing firearms<\/a> except in certain circumstances, including hunting, firearms safety courses and shooting competitions. Unsafe storage of a firearm<\/a> is also a crime, which applies when a person barred from having guns accesses one and uses it in a shooting or during the commission of a crime, or displays the firearm in a public place in a way that is intended to intimidate or cause alarm for the safety of others.<\/p>\n \u201cIt appeared the suspect had everything ready to go to commit a mass shooting type of incident,\u201d Cappetto said. \u201cIt is unknown who or what the intended target was going to be, but it\u2019s clear it was a matter of time before a tragic incident occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n