MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The 17-year-old Minnesota boy outlined his plan in a 180-page journal: kill his family, set a fire to divert first responders, then go to his school with bombs and guns and “kill as many students as he could,” according to court documents.
The planned attack in Waseca, a city of about 9,400 people about 80 miles south of Minneapolis, was halted this week when a concerned citizen became suspicious and called police. When authorities responded, they say they found guns, bombs and other materials - all allegedly amassed by a teenager working alone as he methodically plotted his steps and conducted experiments to refine his plan to inflict bloodshed before being killed by responding officers.
“The bomb squad members were shocked by the amount of bomb making chemicals and components (the teen) had,” court documents say. “Bomb squad members said they have never seen that much of some of those chemicals in one place.”
The teen was arrested this week and charged in juvenile court with multiple counts of attempted first-degree murder, possessing explosive or incendiary devices and criminal damage to property. Prosecutors in Waseca County filed a motion Friday asking that he be charged as an adult, according to documents first obtained by KTOE-AM.
Police were not commenting Friday, and messages left with the teen’s family were not returned. Friday was a planned staff training day at the junior high and high school building that was the target of the alleged plot, and students did not have classes.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A former American Eagle pilot pleaded guilty Friday to having alcohol in his system as he prepared to fly a plane from Minneapolis to New York City last year.
Kolbjorn Jarle Kristiansen, 49, pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to attempting to operate an aircraft within two hours of having a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 percent or higher, a gross misdemeanor. Three similar counts - two gross misdemeanors and a misdemeanor - were dismissed.
Kristiansen was sentenced to a year in jail with 305 of those days stayed, WCCO-TV reported. He also must complete 240 hours of community service and pay a $3,000 fine.
Kristiansen, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Jan. 4, 2013, after airport police and a Transportation Security Administration officer said they smelled alcohol as they walked past a group of four pilots around 5:30 a.m. Authorities said a preliminary test revealed Kristiansen’s blood-alcohol content was 0.107 percent, more than double the legal limit for pilots.
According to a criminal complaint, two officers approached Kristiansen and noted he had “glassy and watery eyes and was slow in responses to officer questions.” The complaint said Kristiansen admitted he consumed alcohol the night before and was planning to fly.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Leading lawmakers announced Friday how they will dispense with what remains of Minnesota’s $1.2 billion projected budget surplus, a framework that suggests the election-year legislative session is moving quickly toward conclusion.
“It is the map to the end,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook.
Legislators expect a big push over the weekend to fill in specific details and ready the remaining tax and spending bills for final votes next week. A borrowing plan for construction projects, known as the bonding bill, will be unveiled in the Senate on Monday and put on a fast track.
The agreement among Democratic House and Senate majorities would allow for $103 million more in tax breaks on top of the $447 million already enacted this year. Some could go to homeowners, renters and farmers as property tax relief.
There is also $293 million in spending on new initiatives and shoring up existing programs. That could range from raises for long-term care workers, to extra staffing in state prisons, to grants for laying high-speed broadband cables in areas without reliable Internet connections.
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ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (AP) - The St. Louis Park School District has reached a settlement with the families of children killed and injured in a landslide during a school field trip to a St. Paul park.
Nine-year-old Haysem Sani and 10-year-old Mohamed Fofana died in the landslide last May. Ten-year-old Devin Meldahl suffered skull, leg and rib fractures.
The three boys, all fourth-graders at Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park, fell when a waterlogged cliff in Lilydale Regional Park collapsed as their class conducted a fossil hunt.
KSTP-TV (https://bit.ly/1obEoeM) reports the school district’s communications manager did not release the dollar amount of the settlement. The district says it is “pleased that a settlement was reached.”
The city of St. Paul agreed to pay $1 million in a separate settlement to the families involved.
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