His defense attorney argued that he never posed a real threat to his school, and it wasn’t unusual for him to wear tactical gear as clothing.
SAN ANTONIO — The middle school boy accused of planning a school shooting at an SAISD school appeared in court on Wednesday for a third time, asking to be released into the custody of his grandmother.
His defense attorney argued the child was arrested outside of Rhodes Middle School wearing tactical gear, but said this wasn’t unusual, because he regularly wore clothing like that. He also argued that he never posed a real threat to his school.
The boy’s grandmother was also at the hearing and she told the court that she is willing to take responsibility for her grandson.
The judge ruled that the minor will remain in custody and has been scheduled another court date for June 26. That is also the deadline for the prosecution to present all evidence in the case.
A San Antonio Police Department detective first contacted the boy in January over “concerning drawings” of Rhodes Middle School, including a map labeled “suicide route,” the affidavit says. The student reportedly wrote out the name of the school with a muzzle flash drawn above it along with time stamps.
Later, in April, he was suspended after he was allegedly researching two New Zealand mosque shootings that left more than 50 dead in 2019 on his school-issued computer. He was briefly assigned to an alternative school before returning to Rhodes last week.
School officials implemented a security plan upon his return due to continuing concerns of targeted mass violence, the affidavit says.
Meanwhile, the student had been staying at his grandmother’s home off and on due to his behavior, authorities reported. On Monday, she contacted law enforcement “over concerns in regards to items she found in her home” belonging to the boy.
She told detectives she had found him “hitting a live bullet with a hammer and stopped him.” The affidavit says he admitted he got the ammunition from his mother, who had been taking him to a surplus store and bought him tactile gear in exchange for babysitting his younger siblings.
The grandmother told detectives that, on the morning before going to school, he told her he was “going to be famous” and made mention of “14 words”—a detail that detectives said was a reference to white supremacy writings. He was picked up by his mother and left to school.
Upon searching the student’s room, arrest documents say, the relative found the magazines loaded with live ammo. She also allegedly discovered the improvised explosive device using a mortar-style firework wrapped in duct tape, an alteration the affidavit says was meant to make the device “hold more pressure than its design, causing a larger explosive force.”
His mother, Ashley Pardo, 33, was made aware of the threats made by her son and had been in contact with police, CPS and school personnel. But, detectives said in the affidavit, she “expressed to the school her support” of her son’s “violent expressions and drawings,” and wasn’t concerned by them.
She faces a charge of aiding in commission of terrorism after officials said she helped her son gather items found to have been used in other acts of mass violence. She was released from jail on a $75,000 bond.