A high school student from Chesterfield, South Carolina, was arrested this past weekend after his parents called police and alerted them to bomb-making materials that had been delivered to their home. The teen's parents also told police about a journal they found, in which their son described his bomb plot as "Columbine III." Chesterfield police have identified the Eric Harris/Dylan Klebold sympathizer as 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger, a senior at Chesterfield High School.
The plot unfolded on Saturday, when Schallenberger's parents opened a US Postal Service Priority Mail package that was delivered to their house. They were shocked to discover the box contained 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate, an oxidizing agent used in explosives. The substance was most notably used as a bomb-making agent in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed nearly 200 people.
After opening the package, Schallenberger's parents did a little investigating and discovered a journal their son had allegedly written, in which he detailed preparations he had been making to bomb his school. The journal included maps of the school and Schallenberger's plan to set off multiple bombs in various locations. Schallenberger also wrote about his sympathies for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two teenage gunmen who killed twelve students and one teacher during the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. In addition to the journal, Schallenberger had made an audiotape, to be played after his death, in which he allegedly explained his motivation to blow up the school and end his life.
"The only thing left [to do] was to deliver the bombs," Chief Randall Lear of the Chesterfield Police Department told the Associated Press. "He seemed to hate the world. He hated people different from him -- the rich boys with good-looking girlfriends ... I don't have any doubt that he was going to carry it out. On the surface, he was one thing, and in his writing, he was something else."
According to Chesterfield County Sheriff Sam Parker, the ammonium nitrate was purchased on eBay. A quick search of completed listings for the product on eBay shows that a user with the screen name "ryanschallenberger" purchased "AMMONIUM NITRATE - Fertilizer, Oxidizer, 10 pounds" on April 14, 2008. The auction listing states, in part, "Must be 18 or older to purchase, and responsible for use of ammonium nitrate." On April 15, the auction seller left positive feedback for the buyer, stating, "Tough Buyer - Hope to do more business."
A profile on MySpace.com, allegedly belonging to Schallenberger, was last logged into on April 16. In his sparsely populated profile, the author, who described himself as a "Metalist," wrote, "I like all types of music, but I favor toward the genre of 90s rock. Bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins, REM, Bush, Fuel, etc."
According to Scott Radkin, principal of Chesterfield High School, Schallenberger was among the top students in his senior class. He was a 2007 member of the academic bowl squad and was also named a Newberry College Scholar in 2006-07.
Police have yet to release the contents of Schallenberger's journal, and his motive remains relatively unclear. Schallenberger made his first court appearance today, when he was assigned a lawyer and ordered to undergo a mental evaluation. He is expected to appear in court again tomorrow for a bail hearing.