A 16-year-old Berkeley High student has been sentenced to “a program of rehabilitation” after being arrested on suspicion of plotting a mass shooting and bombing at the school, according to an Alameda County assistant district attorney.
The teen will not attend Berkeley High or any other BUSD school this year, according to district spokesperson Trish McDermott.
On May 22, following an investigation into a tip that a teen had been recruiting other students to participate in a mass shooting, Berkeley police seized “parts to explosives and assault rifles, several knives, and electronic items that could be used to create additional weapons” from the student’s Berkeley home, according to BPD. The materials were incomplete and had not been assembled.
Eight days later, the student turned himself in, following what BPD called an “arrangement” his attorney had made with police.
The teen pleaded guilty to a felony crime June 20, according to Assistant District Attorney Matthew Golde. His sentence included time in a residential rehabilitation facility designed to address the root causes of the crime, Golde said.
“A minor stays in a facility until he is better and ready to return home,” Golde wrote in an email to Berkeleyside.
The teen had been charged with solicitation of murder, making criminal threats and possessing materials for the purpose of making a destructive device, according to the East Bay Times. Golde declined to comment on the charges, citing juvenile privacy concerns.
“Student and staff safety are foremost in the work we do at BUSD,” McDermott wrote in a statement to Berkeleyside. “We will be communicating with our school community soon to provide an update regarding the school safety work we have completed and share a look at what is ahead for the 2022-23 school year,” which starts Aug. 15.
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