Mom of Teen Planning School Attack Arrested for Providing Guns

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Fresh on the heels of a school shooting in Cleveland which left two students and two teachers injured and the gunman dead, police in Pennsylvania have arrested a 14-year-old boy for planning an attack on his own school.

Tipped off by a fellow Plymouth-Whitemarsh middle school student, police searched the home of a 14-year-old boy who had attended the school but was currently being homeschooled due to problems with bullying.

Officers found a laser-scope rifle in the boy’s room, which he told them his mother had purchased for him, as well as "a Ruger .22 hand gun, a single shot .22 rifle, and a 9 mm semi-automatic rifle," all of which his mother had bought, according to the affidavit. In addition, there were knives, swords, as many as 80 BB pellet guns, three handmade grenades, as well as the materials needed to construct four more grenades.

The grenades were functional, according to Montgomery County district attorney Bruce Castor. "Had the fuse been lit, it would have exploded and [been] sent everywhere like shrapnel," said Castor to reporters.

In addition to the weapons found in his room, officials also discovered notebooks detailing attacks, DVDs and videotapes from the Columbine school shooting, and a handbook on counterinsurgency.

Despite this, D.A. Castor told the press that there was no imminent danger to the school, and that he doubted the boy would have carried out the attack. "It could have simply been ‘big talking’ by a kid who thought that he was bullied previously, and he was going to exact his revenge."

Big talk from a kid who knew enough to make his own, working hand grenades and somehow talked his mother into buying him assault weapons.

The boy’s mother, 46-year-old Michele Cossey, bought the rifle legally, but she is being charged with providing a firearm to a minor, as well as contributing to the corruption of a minor.

Castor feels that because of the actions of the boy’s schoolmate and the quick response by police, "This is a success story. This is one where the good guys won one," said Castor to reporters.

Critics of officials’ reactions to the incident include those who point out that despite the impressive collection of weapons, he did not have ammunition for any of the guns.

The boy is currently being held in custody pending a psychiatric evaluation, but his attorney, J. David Farrell, said to the press, "This is a Columbine in the making? It’s simply not borne out by the facts. The gun was never used in an unlawful manner."

As for his mother, she has not made any statements to the press explaining why she would have bought an assault weapon for her son.

Added District Attorney Castor to reporters, "This is not the best parenting I’ve ever seen and she needs to be held accountable."