(Source)--A teenager accused of killing his father and opening fire outside his former high school was obsessed with school massacres and sent e-mail to the principal of Columbine High School in Colorado warning of his attack, authorities said Thursday.
'Dear Principal,' the e-mail read. 'In a few hours you will probably hear about a school shooting in North Carolina. I am responsible for it. I remember Columbine. It is time the world remembered it. I am sorry. Goodbye.'
Alvaro Castillo sent the message Wednesday morning, shortly before two students were wounded by the gunfire in the Orange High School parking lot in Hillsborough, said Orange County Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass.
One student was grazed by a bullet and another was injured by flying glass. Castillo, 19, was quickly arrested, and police found two pipe bombs and two rifles in the van was he was driving, authorities said. Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis did not read the e-mail until after the attack, according to a statement Thursday by the Jefferson County, Colo., schools. DeAngelis called the district's security director, who called the Orange County Sheriff's Department. DeAngelis and school officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Castillo mentioned the Columbine massacre as he arrived Thursday morning for an initial court appearance. When asked why he fixated on the 1999 attack, in which two students wearing trench coats killed 13 people before committing suicide, Castillo said he didn't know.
'He was obsessed with Columbine, the (Kip) Kinkel shooting in Oregon, the (Jonesboro) Arkansas high school shooting,' the sheriff said. Investigators found numerous diaries at Castillo's home in which he wrote about attacks, Pendergrass said. Castillo was assigned a lawyer and ordered held without bond at Raleigh's Central Prison. He didn't speak during the brief hearing and only nodded when asked by Judge Charles Anderson if he understood the proceedings.
When he was taken into custody, he told deputies he had killed his father, Pendergrass said. Castillo was charged with murder and 10 other charges after deputies forced their way into the family's home and found the teenager's father, Rafael Huezo Castillo, had been shot to death. It was unclear when the killing took place. They also found four additional pipe bombs, Pendergrass said. Castillo's mother, Victoria, declined to comment about the case Thursday after attending her son's court hearing.
School district spokeswoman Anne D'Annunzio said an armed man 'flew' past the school parking lot's guard house in a gray minivan at 1 p.m. and fired about eight shots. Courtney Long, a senior at the school, told The News & Observer the shooter, in a black hat, black trench coat and black sunglasses, jumped from the minivan, set off a line of firecrackers, shot at car tires and shot out a window in the school building.
Another senior, Scott Cook, was outside when he heard a blast and turned to see the man in the parking lot. 'He pulled out a gun. ... He fired in the air, then he aimed it toward the school. At that time, I high-tailed it out of there,' Cook told the newspaper. Tiffaney Utsman, a senior, was grazed on her right shoulder by a bullet. An unidentified male student was hurt by broken glass, D'Annunzio said. Utsman was treated at a hospital and released Wednesday evening.
'My feeling about Tiffaney is absolute relief that she really was not hurt at all,' said her mother, Champe Revis. Denning Best, a high school freshman, was in the cafeteria. 'I saw people running away and all the teachers were telling us it was a lockdown,' she said. 'It was a little bit freaky.'
'Dear Principal,' the e-mail read. 'In a few hours you will probably hear about a school shooting in North Carolina. I am responsible for it. I remember Columbine. It is time the world remembered it. I am sorry. Goodbye.'
Alvaro Castillo sent the message Wednesday morning, shortly before two students were wounded by the gunfire in the Orange High School parking lot in Hillsborough, said Orange County Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass.
One student was grazed by a bullet and another was injured by flying glass. Castillo, 19, was quickly arrested, and police found two pipe bombs and two rifles in the van was he was driving, authorities said. Columbine Principal Frank DeAngelis did not read the e-mail until after the attack, according to a statement Thursday by the Jefferson County, Colo., schools. DeAngelis called the district's security director, who called the Orange County Sheriff's Department. DeAngelis and school officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Castillo mentioned the Columbine massacre as he arrived Thursday morning for an initial court appearance. When asked why he fixated on the 1999 attack, in which two students wearing trench coats killed 13 people before committing suicide, Castillo said he didn't know.
'He was obsessed with Columbine, the (Kip) Kinkel shooting in Oregon, the (Jonesboro) Arkansas high school shooting,' the sheriff said. Investigators found numerous diaries at Castillo's home in which he wrote about attacks, Pendergrass said. Castillo was assigned a lawyer and ordered held without bond at Raleigh's Central Prison. He didn't speak during the brief hearing and only nodded when asked by Judge Charles Anderson if he understood the proceedings.
When he was taken into custody, he told deputies he had killed his father, Pendergrass said. Castillo was charged with murder and 10 other charges after deputies forced their way into the family's home and found the teenager's father, Rafael Huezo Castillo, had been shot to death. It was unclear when the killing took place. They also found four additional pipe bombs, Pendergrass said. Castillo's mother, Victoria, declined to comment about the case Thursday after attending her son's court hearing.
School district spokeswoman Anne D'Annunzio said an armed man 'flew' past the school parking lot's guard house in a gray minivan at 1 p.m. and fired about eight shots. Courtney Long, a senior at the school, told The News & Observer the shooter, in a black hat, black trench coat and black sunglasses, jumped from the minivan, set off a line of firecrackers, shot at car tires and shot out a window in the school building.
Another senior, Scott Cook, was outside when he heard a blast and turned to see the man in the parking lot. 'He pulled out a gun. ... He fired in the air, then he aimed it toward the school. At that time, I high-tailed it out of there,' Cook told the newspaper. Tiffaney Utsman, a senior, was grazed on her right shoulder by a bullet. An unidentified male student was hurt by broken glass, D'Annunzio said. Utsman was treated at a hospital and released Wednesday evening.
'My feeling about Tiffaney is absolute relief that she really was not hurt at all,' said her mother, Champe Revis. Denning Best, a high school freshman, was in the cafeteria. 'I saw people running away and all the teachers were telling us it was a lockdown,' she said. 'It was a little bit freaky.'
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