Near Miss: Student had 'dirty bomb' at Mount Horeb Middle during school shooting

14-year-old Wisconsin student--who was armed with an air rifle when he was killed by police--had 5 grams of uranium, fireworks, IEDs, Molotov cocktails, bear spray, knives, and 100 real rifle rounds.

Wisconsin police have released 1,602 pages of police reports and evidence photos from the school shooting at Mount Horeb Middle on May 1, 2024.

For the first time ever, a school shooting plot involved improvised explosives with 5 grams of United Nuclear brand uranium ore. Luckily this is low grade radioactive material that’s mainly used for equipment calibration but the intent to cause harm is clear even if he didn’t have the means. Scattering nuclear material with a conventional explosive was the terrorist ‘dirty bomb’ scenario that dominated emergency response planning in the aftermath of 9/11.

Contents of the 14-year-old’s backpack

Back in May, police were called for an active shooter at a middle school in rural Wisconsin. Officers spotted a teen outside of the building with a long black rifle and killed him when he didn’t comply with commands. Four days later, police provided an update that the rifle was a $100 pellet gun available at Walmart and Amazon. From the police records, it appears that he may have attempted to load the air rifle with a 9mm round (online air gun forums describe how to fire a 9mm bullet with a modified air rifle).

Here is my original article about the shooting and my interview on Wisconsin Public Radio with a reporter who is also a parent at the school.

Just like the Oxford, MI school shooter drew a picture of himself committing a school shooting on a test, the 14-year-old wrote a note on a class assignment referencing “died by cops”. The teen knew that showing up at his school with a rifle was going to be a “suicide by cop” situation. Most school shooters are actively suicidal and plan to die during the attack.

From the police report, three officers fired 24 shots at the 14-year-old student using AR-15 style rifles that many police agencies now issue to patrol officers. The teen was near the cafeteria windows when he was engaged by police which means it was very lucky that none of the rounds fired by officers hit bystander students or staff.

The intent doesn’t always match capability when a teen is planning a school shooting. The 14-year-old wanted to commit a school shooting, but he couldn’t access a real gun so he assembled a collection of knives, ammo, chemicals, Molotov cocktails, bear spray, and an unregulated air rifle that can be purchased online.

Online he wrote about having a Columbine addiction, posted Columbine-themed memes, celebrated the anniversary of the attack (25 years last April), and praised another school shooters.

He wanted to get a more deadly firearm because he wrote online that AR-15s were his favorite weapon and “beautiful”. He described his family as “anti-gun” and lamented over his lack of access to firearms.

Before the attack he wrote online:

“I hate my existence because I fear everything, I AM TIRED OF THIS. My family thinks I actually have a plan after High School, no, I don't, and if my parents ever look back, they might just see they knew NOTHING about me, and I don't blame them.”

“Looks like time is kind of running out for me, no going back for whatever I do.”

“My last morning” was the final message he posted 2 hours before he was killed by police.

Evidence at the school

Here is the evidence that police gathered at the school.

Evidence markers show an exploded firework near the school. The Boston Marathon bombs were conventional fireworks placed inside pressure cookers with metal debris to cause additional injuries. This should be a huge warning sign to police and school officials that a 14-year-old thought of detonating fireworks during the attack. It only takes a little more effort to turn them into an IED.