Parents reportedly sought mental help for teen accused of school bomb plot

CHESTERFIELD, S.C. â€”  A teenager accused of plotting to bomb his high school is a straight-A student whose parents sought help from mental health experts after he slammed his head into a wall last week, authorities said Monday.

Ryan Schallenberger’s parents took him to a hospital three days before his Saturday arrest after he made a 4-inch dent in the wallboard, prosecutor Jay Hodge said at a court hearing.

Schallenberger, 18, was not badly injured, but his parents called a local mental health clinic that offered no help, Hodge said. A spokesman for the clinic, citing state law, would not confirm or deny any contact with the family.

Hodge said he planned to ask at Schallenberger’s bail hearing today that the teen undergo a mental evaluation.

Schallenberger was arrested after his parents called police because he had ordered 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate, an explosive commonly used as fertilizer. It was employed in the deadly 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Authorities checked the school for bombs over the weekend, and on Monday students walked through newly installed metal detectors and past law officers. Still, officials said, 60% of the school’s 544 students stayed home.

The quiet teenager with a slight build and a wispy mustache had apparently been planning a potentially deadly attack for months, authorities said.

“This kid had the intellect and the means and the materials to carry it out,� Hodge said.

Police said they discovered a hate-filled journal lauding the Columbine High School killers, an audiotape to be played after he perished during his rampage, and plans for the bombing that included a hand-drawn map of the school.

Schallenberger initially was charged with making a bomb threat, and will be charged today with possession of bomb-making material, Hodge said.