Texas mum charged with 'equipping son with tactical equipment' for horror school shooting plot

A Texas woman has been arrested and charged with allegedly providing her son with ammunition and tactical equipment as he prepared to attack his San Antonio middle school. Ashley Pardo, 33, was charged on Monday with facilitating the commission of terrorism after the authorities alleged that she knowingly provided her son with items that were meant to be used in a plot for mass violence at Rhodes Middle School.

Pardo's son had been displaying frightening behavior for months, according to court filings obtained by CNN, ABC News, and KSAT. In January, school officials found his sketch of a map of the school marked "suicide route" with the name of the school next to a rifle. The boy had reportedly declared fascination with previous mass shooters, even reading the manifesto of the Christchurch mosque gunman. He was suspended in April for searching on a school computer about the 2019 New Zealand mosque shooting that killed 51 individuals.

The grandmother of the boy alerted authorities when she found live ammunition, tactical equipment, and a crude explosive device in his bedroom. The device contained white supremacist symbols and mentions of Christchurch attacker Brenton Tarrant, including "14 words" and "SS" symbols. A list of names of mass shooters and the victim counts was also scribbled in handwriting.

Even after being cautioned by law enforcement, child protective services, and school authorities concerning her son's plans, Pardo is said to have had no apprehension and even defended his violent actions. She is said to have obtained the tactical gear such as magazines, ballistic vest, helmet, and military uniform via visits to a nearby surplus store and traded the items for babysitting her son's younger brothers.

On May 12, the boy went to Rhodes Middle School dressed in a camouflage jacket, tactical pants, and a mask but departed quickly, issuing a security alert. The campus was searched for potential threats, and more police officers were sent. The student was subsequently detained off-campus and charged with terrorism.

Pardo was freed from Bexar County Jail after posting $75,000 bond and is due in court again on July 17. Principal Felismina Martinez of Rhodes Middle School reassured parents in a letter that the school takes all such threats seriously and takes student safety seriously. The case raised immediate questions about how worries regarding possible school violence are dealt with and the role played by family members either in preventing or facilitating such threats.

The case is ongoing, with the local authorities and San Antonio Independent School District still keeping a close eye on the situation.