Pictured with an assault rifle: The teen who plotted to 'murder his family before going on a rampage through school setting off pressure cooker bombs, throwing Molotov cocktails and gunning down students'

John LaDue planned to kill 'as many students as he could' in a commemoration of the Columbine massacre

He was busted after police were called to a self-storage unit he was seen walking into and closing the door behind him

Cops uncovered an arsenal of seven guns, six bombs and the materials to make several more



LaDue admitted to setting off several bombs around the small town about 80 miles south of Minneapolis

A few of his bombs were uncovered at an elementary school playground by melting snow

He faces 12 separate counts, including four charges of premeditated murder for planning to kill his family prior to going on the rampage



More chilling details have emerged about the 17-year-old honor student planned to bomb and shoot his way through a Minnesota high school to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, authorities claim.

John David LaDue’s plan to use pressure cooker bombs, Molotov cocktails and multiple firearms including an assault rifle to kill his parents, set fire to a field and go on a killing spree through Waseca High School was foiled Tuesday by an alert citizen, police said, and those who know him are shocked.



The woman who called 911 says she thought he was acting suspiciously, 'trying not to be seen' and even appeared to be breaking into the storage locker where police began to piece together his horrifying intentions.

Court documents show that officers found seven firearms, 400 rounds of ammunition and three homemade bombs in the teen's bedroom, and three more completed bombs, ball bearings and chemicals in the storage facility where he was arrested.



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Armed to the teeth: John LaDue had seven guns, six bombs and chemicals to expand his deadly cache - authorities believe he planned to carry out the attack within weeks. (This photo was taken before his arrest as he is no longer allowed to own a gun) Caught: John David LaDue was arrested this week and charged with four counts of premeditated murder before he could carry out his horrifying plan to bomb and shoot his way through Waseca High School

LaDue’s plan first unraveled when a person near the self-storage unit where he made his bombs called police to report a suspiciously acting teen, a police official said during that news conference.

Chelsie Schellahas, who lives near the storage facility, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune the teen was cutting through her backyard when she first noticed him.

'He walked through the puddles when there was a perfectly good road he could have walked on,' Schellhas told the paper. 'It just didn’t seem right to me because we see people come and go with their trucks, and they don’t come on foot and cut through people’s back yards.'

'It was like he was blatantly trying not to be seen,' she continued. 'That’s why I thought it was odd.'

LaDue took 'some time' before opening the door, appearing to be breaking in, the vigilant woman explained.

Able to see into the locker, she noticed shopping bags and trash that 'didn't look right.'



He then closed it behind him, cops said, and Schellhas called 911.



Officers responding to the storage locker around 7:30 p.m. immediately noticed a significant amount of bombs and bomb making materials, police said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.

Court documents cited by the Star Tribune say the unit was illuminated with several small lanterns, and littered with boxes of ammunition, a scale and red zinc oxide packages commonly used to make bombs.



‘If you can guess what I'm doing, I'll tell you everything,’ he told investigators, according to KEYC.

When told to guess what LaDue was doing, the cop asked if he was making a bomb.

‘Yes,’ the teen replied, and then admitted to placing the bombs near a local elementary school that were uncovered when snow began melting last month, officials said.

He then admitted to wanting to shoot the police officer but having only a knife in his possession when confronted at the storage unit, according to the Mankato Free-Press.

High school horror: The teen planned to terrorize Waseca Junior and Senior High School and kill as many people as possible, officials said

Officials declined to confirm at the press conference whether he intended to shoot the cop.

Further questioning led to LaDue chillingly saying that he planned to kill 'as many students as he could' before the SWAT team gunned him down, according to the Star-Tribune.

He also admitted to being fascinated with other school shootings and idolizing the Columbine shooters, said police.



LaDue’s arsenal included an SKS assault-style rifle, a .22-cailber rifle and a Baretta handgun, according to the paper. He planned to use the .22 to kill his family because it makes less noise than the other firearms.



‘A great catastrophe and tragedy was averted,’ Waseca Mayor Roy Srp said at that same news conference.

He also had made six bombs and had the components to make many more, police said.

‘I’m very disturbed by the amount of items he had,’ said Waseca Police captain Kris Markeson, later adding that ‘he intended to do a great amount of harm... the amount of thought and preparation he put into this, it’s very, very complete.'

Markeson later said LaDue 'intended to set off numerous bombs during the lunch hour and kill the school resource officers and set fires and shoot students and staff.'



Police found a notebook detailing minute by minute how he planned to carry out the plot – starting with gunning down his parents and sister before setting fire to a field to distract authorities while he stormed the school.

The plan itself involved placing pressure cooker bombs similar to the ones set off last year at the Boston Marathon inside recycling boxes in the cafeteria and shooting the school liaison officer dead before he could stop the rest of the assault, he told police.

It was apparently first written in the notebook June 24, 2013, and while the semantics of the terror plot were tweaked over time, the original idea remained in tact - to kill his family, the school liaison officer and as many students as possible, the court documents revealed.





End of the line: The Waseca storage facility where LaDue was arrested Tuesday night

Hartley Elementary: Bombs were found in melting snow at this school earlier this year, and LaDue admitted to making them, police said

They also did not elaborate on how he was able to obtain the guns despite being a minor.

LaDue was characterized by school superintendent Tom Lee as a quiet, reserved, music playing kid who was on the honor roll and never got into trouble.

‘He had never been in trouble in school,’ said Lee. ‘I do think that people are quite disturbed and shocked… it’s a disturbing thing.’

Classmates and other locals were shocked by the allegations.

'This little boy was shy, he never talked, always followed the leader,' Bailey Root, 19, who went to school with LaDue told the paper. 'I’m absolutely amazed.

'It was like the outcast friends kind of thing, but he had plenty of friends, she added. 'I don’t think they got bullied at all, not that I saw.'

Ryan Lano, the troubled teen's guitar teacher who posted the now infamous video to Facebook, said LaDue was 'normal in every way... courteous' and 'polite.'

'He seemed like a good kid,' math partner Lucas Hagel told WCCO. 'You’d never expect it from him.'

Best friend Eddie Persell told KMSP that even trips to the shooting range didn't hint at what LaDue was plotting.

'It's unfortunate he had to be thinking that way. I hope he gets the help he needs,' Persell told the station.



'He’s a real close friend of mine. He's real smart. He has a lot of things going for him, unfortunately he took a wrong path, I guess.'



From his Facebook page: LaDue posted little online, but this post from 2012 came with remarks chiding a commenter that she did not understand what it meant but that 'people my age do'

Multiple neighbors told the paper LaDue often spent time throwing knives and axes into a tree in his front yard - often enough that the bark has been stripped away.



Shelly Simon originally thought he was practicing some kind of sport, now she calls the actions 'disturbing.'

The attack was originally planned by the high school junior to happen on the 15th anniversary of the Columbine killings, but April 20 fell on Easter Sunday this year.

He intended out the attack 'within the next few weeks,' said Markeson.

Police believe he acted alone, and have not uncovered any evidence to suggest otherwise.

Markeson was unable to confirm or deny if the teen suffered from any mental illness.

LaDue has been ‘very cooperative,’ Markeson said before declining to comment on whether a church window possibly blown out by a bomb earlier this year was caused by the troubled teen.

The bombs found in melting snow at Hartley Elementary school were made with CO2 cartridges and posed no threat to students, said Markeson.

‘One had been previously lit and could not be ignited.’

The guitar-playing teen has admitted to setting bombs off around the small town for months ‘to perfect them’ before carrying out what would have been a horrific attack.

Court hearing: The teen appeared at this courthouse Thursday to be charged with 10 counts

He instead faces four counts of premeditated murder among the 12 total charges brought against him and is sitting in a juvenile detention facility far from the weapons he planed to use to cause mass destruction in a rampage on his high school.

The would-be-gunman reportedly made 'homicidal statements' to staff at the first juvenile detention facility he was housed at and had to be transferred to a more secure one.

He is due back in court May 12.



A person identified only as Cathy who answered the phone at the storage facility said the locker was not rented by him but was is in good standing through May.

The agreement will be revoked by the end of the month, 'as soon as I can get the paperwork together... because I don't feel comfortable [with the person keeping the locker],' said Cathy.

She would not disclose if the storage unit was rented by a family member or a friend outside of saying only that it was someone over the age of 18.



Authorities repeatedly praised Schellahas, despite not naming her, for 911 in the minutes before the arrest.