Following the school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, schools around the country have been on high-alert in order to prevent any similar incidents. After many went on preventative lockdowns last week, the Washington Post reports that a Maryland student was arrested for bringing a gun to his school and was later found to have a cache of weapons at his home.
Alwin Chen, an honor roll student at Clarksburg High School in Montgomery County, was arrested for bringing a loaded gun to school for at least the second time. According to assistant state’s attorney Frank Lazzaro, Chen had also put together a “list of grievances against students in the school,” which Lazzaro described as “possibly a motive” for using one of his weapons. Following the arrest, police found “an AR-15 assault-style rifle, handguns, tactical vests, and a possible detonator device” in Chen’s home.
Citing the weapons cache, repeatedly bringing a gun to school, and the list of students, Montgomery District Judge John Moffett ordered that Chen be kept in jail without the chance to post bond. When confronted about the loaded pistol in his possession at the school last week, Chen offered two excuses: he was going to target practice after school, and he was being bullied and harassed by other students, so the gun was for protection.
Chen’s attorney told authorities that his client didn’t suffer from mental illness and hoped to one day serve in the military or as a police officer.
(Via Washington Post)