Toano MS Student Charged In Stabbing Plot at School; Faces Bomb, Arson Charges, Too

By Kimberly Lenz Wednesday, February 10, 2010

A Toano Middle School eighth-grader is being held at the Merrimac Juvenile Detention Center on felony charges of trying to build a bomb, attempting to burn down his father's Governor's Land house and plotting to stab another student in a school bathroom.

The boy came to the attention of James City County police on Jan. 15, after a Toano Middle School student told the school resource officer there was a student with a knife in a bathroom. The officer detained the 13-year-old, apparently breaking up a plot to stab another student.

The 13-year-old was charged with possession of a weapon on school property and one count of petit larceny relating to the student’s possession of a medication bottle. A seventh-grader was also charged with involvement in the stabbing plot and faces a single count of attempted malicious wounding. Further investigation resulted in additional charges against the 13-year-old related to bomb-making and arson.

The Toano Middle eighth-grader came to law enforcement's attention again on Jan. 28, when his guardian reported him as a runaway.

Investigators learned the student may have manufactured an explosive device, which he'd left in his residence in the Legends at Stonehouse subdivision. The James City County Fire Marshal’s Office investigated with the assistance of the Virginia State Police Bomb Squad, and found that while no bomb had been assembled the boy had hidden components for one in a suitcase at the house.

Investigators also searched a laptop computer the boy had used earlier that day, and found numerous Internet searches for improvised explosive devices and causing harm to others. In a statement, police and fire officials said those searches included “how to kill someone with a knife,” “disposing of a body,” “how to kill someone without getting caught,” along with searches for “Columbine,” “Waco,” Oklahoma City Bombing” and “Toano Middle School.”

During the investigation, police and fire officials learned the boy had threatened to burn down his father's house in Governor's Land and had set a fire at the house about a week before Christmas. The fire had caused minimal damage, officials said in their joint statement, and neither police nor fire officials was notified.

The boy was found and taken into custody just before midnight January 29 in the Ford's Colony neighborhood.

He was interviewed by a James City County fire marshal and a Virginia State Police special agent, and subsequently charged with a threat to burn a building, burning or destroying a dwelling, two counts of petit larceny and manufacturing/possessing a fire bomb or explosive device.

Williamsburg James City School Division officials did not notify Toano Middle families last month after the stabbing plot was uncovered and stopped because there was "no real, true link" to any other potential threat to the school, spokesman Greg Davy was quoted as saying to television station WAVY-TV10.

Although the investigation began with a foiled stabbing plot at the school and led to Internet searches on violence carried out on a large scale at public places, fire and police officials in their joint statement said, "The investigation disclosed no direct threat to Toano Middle School or planning for any event aimed at Toano Middle School."