CHESTERFIELD, South Carolina - A prosecutor urged a mental health evaluation for a teenager whose alleged plot to bomb his high school was foiled when his parents discovered he had ordered explosive materials on the Internet.
Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police because he had ordered 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of ammonium nitrate, which they retrieved after getting a delivery notice from the postal service, authorities said.
His parents had sought help earlier in the week from mental health experts when he slammed his head into a wall, but the clinic offered no help, authorities said Monday. His parents took him to a hospital.
Schallenberger was not badly injured, according to prosecutor Jay Hodge, who said he would request at a bail hearing Tuesday that the teen undergo a mental health evaluation.
A spokesman for the mental health clinic would not confirm or deny any contact with Schallenberger's family, citing state law.
Ammonium nitrate is an explosive commonly used as fertilizer and was employed in the deadly 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Authorities said Schallenberger bought the ammonium nitrate off eBay.
Police said they discovered a hate-filled journal lauding the Columbine killers, an audiotape to be played after Schallenberger died during his rampage and a year's worth of plans for the bombing that included a hand-drawn map of the school.
Schallenberger was charged with making a bomb threat and will be charged Tuesday with possession of bomb-making material, Hodge said. He was assigned a lawyer, William Spencer, who did not return calls from The Associated Press.
Chesterfield is a town of about 1,500 people in northeastern South Carolina near the North Carolina line.
---
Associated Press writers Jim Davenport and Katrina A. Goggins in Columbia and Bruce Smith in Charleston contributed to this report.
PsycPORT® is a product of the American Psychological Association created to provide quick access to mass-media information related to psychology.
®2008 American Psychological Association
Last updated: 05/01/2008 - 03:06 PM