CRIME
California Student Arrested For Allegedly Plotting School Shooting
Ontario High School
A California student was arrested over the weekend for allegedly planning a shooting at Ontario Christian High School, authorities said.
Sebastian Villasenor, 18, was arrested Saturday for allegedly making viable threats on Thursday, Feb. 8, according to the Ontario Police Department. Police were contacted by Ontario High School Principal Ben Dykhouse after another student reported Villasenor was “showing signs of being fixated on school shootings.
What we discovered through the course of our investigation was that Villasenor had every intention of carrying out a school shooting at the Ontario Christian High School, Ontario Police Chief Michael Lorenz said during a press conference Wednesday.
Police said Villasenor was particularly obsessed with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, which led investigators to believe he may have been planning an attack for the same date, April 20.
“He researched tactical supplies, Lorenz said. “Ultimately when we arrested Villasenor at his residence, we collected numerous weapons, including seven rifles, two revolvers, one handgun, one shotgun, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
He was so obsessed with our response times that he Google-mapped how far it would be from the Ontario Police Department for our response time to the school,” Lorenz said.
We determined through various interviews that Villasenor had five intended victims and contemplated a sixth victim, Lorenz said. All of the potential victims are students at the school.
As it’s related to Villasenor’s motive, we have been able to determine from interviews he was not bullied or harassed, he did however have difficulties in forming relationships with other students and in his social interactions, Lorenz said.
Villasenor was charged Wednesday with felonies including one count of attempted criminal threats and five counts of attempted murder.
Police praised the student who came forward to report their concerns.
There was a student who was so brave to come forward, see something say something, and shared their fear that they and others could be harmed by Villasenor and followed through with their training that they received from the school, Lorenz said. To be clear, the student who came forward … is a hero. That student saved lives, spared families from losing their children and a community from being devastated from a senseless act of violence.
TMX contributed to this article.
