Videos outlined school-attack plans. Pierce County teen pleads guilty
The Pierce County teenager who described his plans to carry out a school shooting in homemade videos and seemed to idolize people who had committed deadly mass attacks pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted threat to bomb or injure property and other offenses.
The teen was 13 years old in September when the Sheriff’s Office searched his family’s home in the middle of the night and found 22 firearms, many of which, according to prosecutors, were unsecured. In the boy’s bedroom, investigators found a backpack filled with ammunition and a yearbook with handwritten notes such as, “I don’t hate him,” and “I hate all the rest.”
On Wednesday, Judge Jennifer Andrews sentenced the teen in Juvenile Court to 90 days in detention, which he had served, along with nine months of probation, including court-ordered behavioral treatment at a Utah facility.
The News Tribune generally does not name people who are charged with a crime as a juvenile. In addition to attempted threats, the teen pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of fireworks.
Deputies arrested the teen during the search of his home in the Clover Creek area, and he was released from Remann Hall to electronic-home monitoring about three weeks later so he could attend mental health counseling. In November, he was remanded to custody after prosecutors presented evidence in court that he was continuing to post photos and videos referencing mass shootings.
The teen was not enrolled at a school in Pierce County at the time, according to court documents. He was unenrolled from the Franklin Pierce County School District in 2021 and was homeschooled until he enrolled in an online program.
Ahead of sentencing, deputy prosecuting attorney Sean Plunkett argued in court filings that a standard-range sentence of 0-30 days would result in a manifest injustice, and that the court should impose 57 weeks. Factoring in 31 weeks already served, the teen would have spent 26 weeks in the custody of the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration at the Echo Glen Children’s Center.
The teen’s defense attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel, Melissa Gomez, requested a deferred sentence with a year of community supervision, 40 hours of community service, no unsupervised internet access and participation in behavioral treatment at the Utah facility.
In support of prosecutors’ recommendation of a longer sentence, Plunkett argued that the teen was a serious and clear danger to society. Plunkett recounted the teen’s social media posts where he showed himself dressed as one of the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado and videotaped statements outlining his plans to enroll in a school and shoot it up.
Plunkett said the investigation of the teen began with a 15-page report on his social-media activity compiled by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit that tracks online extremism. The Sept. 4, 2025 document was provided to the Puyallup Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office. The teen’s home was searched Sept. 6, 2025.
“According to the report, [the teen] has shared multiple photographs of himself holding firearms while dressed as past school shooters at least six times since June of 2025 and made several comments suggesting his desire to carry out his own attack,” Plunkett wrote in a brief ahead of sentencing.
A digital camcorder found in the teen’s room contained a video of him describing planning an attack in May or June in which he planned to use a rifle or shotgun. According to prosecutors, the video showed him stating that he wanted more than 10 people to die.
“My dream, right hand on my chest, is to surpass at least ten,” the teen said, according to prosecutors. “Even if that’s, even if that’s nine victims including me.”
In another video, the teen showed off two loaded pistol magazines he reportedly said he stole from his father’s room.
Also found in the teen’s room was a mandolin case he reportedly said he wanted to use to carry an AR-style rifle. Investigators found loose ammunition in his bedroom, a rifle sling, a gas mask, a camouflage ghillie suit and modified firework materials.
In a brief submitted to the court ahead of sentencing, Gomez said her client’s parents took him out of in-person schooling when the COVID-19 pandemic hit when he was 8 years old. Shortly after, Gomez said the boy’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and eventually homeschooling became too much, so he was enrolled in an online program.
The defense attorney said her client had difficulty sleeping and completing his school work, and he began to look for ways to cope.
“He was missing human interaction,” Gomez wrote. “He never left home and didn’t have any friends. He found himself in different ‘communities’ online. When he was 10, he stumbled upon the true crime community.”
Gomez said the boy was younger than most others involved in the community and looked up to them. He began making his own posts at age 13, which Gomez said attracted a lot of attention that made her client feel good and ultimately led to his charges.
Gomez said the state’s request would not guarantee that her client receives treatment.
“(The boy) had just turned 13 when these behaviors began,” Gomez wrote in court documents. “His brain is far from being fully developed. His impulsivity and lack of maturity cannot be fixed with incarceration alone.”
