Police: Boy's Mother Gave Him Ammunition for School Attack

A San Antonio woman faces terrorism charges after police said an investigation found she supplied her son with ammunition and tactical gear for an attack he was planning on his middle school. Ashley Pardo, 33, was arrested Monday, ABC News reports. Her son made an appearance Tuesday in juvenile court, per KSAT. An affidavit says the student had told his grandmother before being taken to Rhodes Middle School on Monday that he was "going to be famous." Police and charging documents gave this account:

• January: The boy was contacted by officials about drawings he'd made of his school, which showed a map of the layout with a "suicide route." The school's name was written next to a drawing of a rifle. He expressed a "fascination with past mass shooters" to investigators.
• April: The son was suspended from school after researching the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand in 2019, which killed 51 people, on a school-issued computer. Later that day, he tried to kill himself with a straight razor; the wounds required more than 100 stitches. He went to an alternative school until May 8, when he returned to Rhodes.
• Sunday: Police were contacted by a family member who reported the boy had a rifle and pistol ammunition, black tactical gear, and an improvised explosive device made from a mortar-style firework. The relative reported finding three loaded magazines, as well as a note with the names of several mass shooters. Some items had white supremacy references inscribed.

• Monday: His grandmother told police she had found him "hitting a live bullet with a hammer" at her home. She said the boy told her he'd gotten the bullet from his mother and that he had "guns and ammunition at her house." She said Pardo had taken her son to a surplus store where she bought him tactical gear, ammunition, and military clothes. When Pardo took him to school that day, the grandmother searched his room and found ammunition. School officials said the student arrived that day wearing a camouflage jacket, mask, and tactical pants. He left school quickly, they said. The school added security and had the campus swept. The boy was later found off campus and taken into custody.

Pardo was released Tuesday on a $75,000 bond, records show. She's due in court for a hearing on July 17, and the boy, who's been charged with terrorism, is due back in juvenile court later this month. (More terror plots stories.)