Ga. Police Investigate Bomb Plot

Police investigating rumors of a bomb plot at a middle school raided the homes of 11 students and arrested a 14-year-old boy who had several guns, Nazi posters, $4,900 in cash and bomb recipes in his room.

Investigators said Thursday they found no explosives at the school or in the students' homes and still were investigating whether there was a conspiracy to bomb West Chatham Middle School.

``I don't think we can say right now they had the intent. We know that they had the means,'' said Pooler Police Chief Butch Chan.

``If you go to a 14-year-old child's home and you find evidence on how to make a bomb and you find seven weapons and (nearly) $5,000 in his house, I think the evidence speaks for itself,'' he said.

The 14-year-old, whose name was not released because of his age, was charged with possession of a firearm by a minor for two handguns police found in his room.

The boy also had two shotguns and three rifles in his closet, but minors can legally possess such weapons under Georgia law.

The boy's father told The Associated Press on Thursday that the handguns belong to his son-in-law, who is visiting from Illinois. The pistols were stashed in his son's room to keep them away from younger children, he said.

``He is not a violent kid,'' the father said.

The boy pulled bomb-making recipes off the Internet only to demonstrate to his father how easily teens could find such instructions online, the father said.

As for the drawing of Adolf Hitler seized from the boy's room, the father said his son once wrote a school report on Adolf Hitler, and got a good grade for it. He said his son claimed the $4,900 belonged to a friend.

None of the other 10 students was arrested in Wednesday night's raids, prompted by students who warned police of rumors that their classmates planned to bomb the school Thursday.

But police say there may be more arrests and charges. They're calling the students the ``Gothic Gang'' and labeled the students outsiders who favor black clothing, Nazi and satanic paraphernalia.

``I think this group gets away from the wannabe stage to the fact that they may have been actually laying plans to do something here,'' Chan said.

Classes were held as normal Thursday at the school in Pooler, 10 miles west of Savannah. But a steady stream of scared parents pulled their children out of class on the final day before spring break.

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