13 year old boy arrested planning Tacoma, Washington school shooting just wanted to be cool according to his parents who insist investigators have ‘blown out of proportion’ arms cache of 23 assault rifles, some with names of past shooters along with chilling social media post threats.
Washington state authorities have arrested a 13 year old boy after finding a large cache of weapons and writings about ‘mass shooting scenarios’ in his home.
The alleged would-be killer, who has not been named, was obsessed with ‘previous mass shooters’ and ‘idolized’ them as he hatched a chilling plot to carry out his own murder spree, cops said.
13 year old Washington boy had ideations of previous school shooters on arms
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said they descended on the boy’s home in Tacoma, Washington after being notified on Friday afternoon that he was ‘making threats to kill.’
Following a sweep of his home on Saturday morning, authorities seized a ‘large quantity’ of guns.
The boy also owned ‘loaded magazines with school shooter writings on them’ and clothes and writings that reinforce a ‘typical mass shooting scenario’, authorities said.
Deputy Carly Cappetto with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News that a total of 23 firearms were found in the home, many of which appeared to be homemade using 3D printed parts.
Footage of the weapons seized showed long lines of weapons laid out on tables, most of which appeared to be long guns and AR-style rifles.
The teenager appearing in court pled not guilty to multiple felonies, including charges of attempted threat to bomb or injure a school, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of fireworks, WGXA reported.
The boy’s parents have not been charged. Nevertheless it remained unclear how the teen was able to amass the arms cache without the teen’s parents knowing or presumably known about their child’s affairs.
Authorities thwarted an alleged school shooting in Washington state, arresting a 13-year-old boy. @TrevorLAult reports as police say they found an arsenal of weapons in his home. https://t.co/753rEwyIzE pic.twitter.com/ccGpc5gfRz
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) September 9, 2025
13 year old would be school shooter parents say their son was ‘just trying to be cool’
His parents, speaking to KOMO News outside the courtroom, insisted the situation is a misunderstanding. His mother suggested that social media posts were an attempt to ‘be cool’ among peers. At the same time, his father described the charges as blown out of proportion, asserting that their son had no intention to harm anyone. Or did he?
A review of the 13 year old’s social media found a slew of posts the boy made, showing a ‘fascination of recent school shootings/mass casualty attacks’, court records showed.
The teen also posted pictures dating back to June of him posing with guns and made remarks referencing shootings including the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting and the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, elementary school massacre, cops said.
In an alleged similarity to the shooting of a Catholic school church in Minneapolis last month, the boy had written references to mass shootings and killers on magazines for his AR-style weapons.
Other alleged social media postings included the teen dressed in the attire of past school shooters, including one post that stated, ‘my time is almost hear (sic). I hope I kill y’all!!’
A search of the teen’s room led to authorities finding a gas mask along with a backpack of ammunition, including several AR style magazines which had writings on them referencing mass shootings.
Tacoma boy hadn’t been enrolled in school system since 2021
Officials said the 13-year-old was not currently enrolled in any school district, and he was last enrolled in the Franklin Pierce School District in 2021.
In a statement to ABC News, the school district said: ‘We were notified by local law enforcement personnel that a young person in our community was arrested for allegedly planning a school shooting.
‘We continue to work with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office to ensure that this individual is not a threat to our schools or our community as a whole.’
Not immediately clear is why the boy had come not to be attending in the school system, what prior interactions with his prior school the teen had (had he been expelled?) along with which school the teen planned to attack and how the teen planned to carry out the alleged mass school shooting.
The teen remains in custody at the Remann Hall Pierce County Juvenile Detention Center, with a detention review hearing scheduled for Sept. 22. Investigators continue to review evidence, including social media posts.
