Students at an Oregon high school were in shock today, after learning that a classmate they described as "happy" and "nice" is accused of plotting to blow them up with bombs he'd allegedly built and hid in his bedroom.
Grant Acord, 17, a junior at West Albany High School, was arrested late Thursday at his home on two counts of possession of a destructive device and two counts of manufacture of a destructive device, according to the Albany Police Department.
But prosecutors say he will be charged as an adult with aggravated murder and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Benton County Circuit Court.
Acord's classmates said they did not see him as the kind of person who would plot an attack "specifically modeled" after the Columbine shooting, as Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said the teen allegedly did.
"I'd say 'hi' to him in the hallway, cause I was kind of ... was like, 'Well, I should probably talk to this kid ... make sure he feels OK,'" West Albany student Dennis Reilly said. "So, I'd talk to him sometimes and he seems like a pretty nice guy."
Holly Koltvedt, another West Albany student, also said she saw no signs that Acord might have been upset about anything.
"I talked to him earlier, nothing was wrong," she said. "He was happy."
According to Haroldson, the explosives police allegedly found hidden in a secret compartment under the floor of his bedroom included pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, napalm bombs and explosives made from drain cleaner.
