Student Plotting Washington School Shooting Charged

PUYALLUP, Wash. – A 16-year-old student accused of plotting to shoot people at Rogers High School, then kill himself "to finally go out in a blaze of hatred and fury" has been charged with first-degree attempted assault.

Another student told the school's ROTC commander that a plot was being hatched, leading to the arrest of Brian Michael Evans, according to documents filed Monday in Pierce County Juvenile Court.

Investigators searched Evans' home Sunday and found two rifles, two handguns, ammunition, a homemade bomb, a CD copy of "The Anarchist Cookbook," which includes directions to make explosives, and two computers, sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said.

Investigators believe the boy didn't plan to target specific people but wanted people to "feel his pain, and he wanted to be hated, not having earned respect in the past," Troyer said.

No one was injured.

In an unrelated case, another 16-year-old was charged Monday in connection with an explosion at Orting Middle School in Orting.

At Rogers, the school's ROTC commander was told by an ROTC student he had received instant messages from an angry student about a plan to shoot people at school on Wednesday, April 26, according to charging papers.

Deputies found instant messages that read in part, "To finally go out in a blaze of hatred and fury ... to wrongly hurt others for my own sick pleasure before ending it for myself."

Investigators wrote that the teen shared parts of his plan with deputies when they arrived at his house, including plans to use bolt cutters to cut the locks on his stepfather's gun cabinet, which contained two rifles and two handguns.

The boy told authorities he planned to take a .22-caliber rifle and a handgun with 15 rounds that would be easier to conceal. He said he planned to "take people out and save the last round for himself," only taking one magazine "because that is all that he needed," according to an affidavit.

The boy and his parents were cooperative during the search, Troyer said.

Evans remained in juvenile detention pending a court appearance May 2.

"It's, of course, very troubling to us that we had a student of ours pose these kinds of threats," said Karen Hansen, Puyallup School District spokeswoman, adding that officials were was grateful for the actions of the student who went to the ROTC commander.

In the Orting case, Timothy David Knoll was charged in Juvenile Court with third-degree malicious explosion of a substance. Investigators wrote that Knoll contacted police Friday and claimed responsibility for setting off a bomb made with a glass bottle, tape, bottle rockets and a flaming firework on April 18.

The boy "stated that he brought the device to the school in an attempt to gain recognition and intimidate another male student who had been dating the respondent's girlfriend," according to court papers.