Oregon youth accused of plotting school attack

Law enforcement officials in Oregon say they have disrupted a plot by a student to set off explosives at his high school in what one official described on Sunday as a "video-game style of killing people" reminiscent of the Columbine High School massacre.

The suspect, Grant A Acord (17), was arrested Thursday at his home in Albany, Oregon, said John Haroldson, the district attorney of Benton County. Mr Haroldson said in an interview the police had confiscated several explosive devices and that Grant Acord appeared to be trying to get more weapons.

“We intervened on this before he could get all the materials that he wanted,” Mr Haroldson said. “The full-blown plan would have involved even more bombs. It would have involved rifles.”

He said the youth would be formally charged today. Investigators believe that the intended target was West Albany High School, where the suspect is a student. After the arrest, officers searched the school for explosives but found none.

“The initial security search will be followed up by a more extensive school search, which will include the use of an explosives detection K-9 from the Oregon State Police, to ensure that the campus is safe for students’ return to class on Tuesday,” an Albany Police Department statement said.

Albany, a city of about 50,000 people, is 70 miles from Portland. The police began their investigation after receiving a tip “that associated Grant Acord with manufacturing a destructive device with the intent of detonating it at a school,” the statement said.

As of Sunday, any motives were unclear. The Acord family has made no public statements.

The authorities would not say when the attack was to be carried out, but Mr Haroldson said the police had recovered a detailed checklist and a timeline. – (New York Times)