A 15-year-old boy has pled guilty to endangering staff and students at a Perth high school by firing shots towards the buildings of the Atlantis Beach Baptist College.
The boy — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — was arrested by police in May 2023 after he drove to the school armed with two of his father’s licensed firearms and ammunition.
Former Premier Mark McGowan said that it was lucky no one was killed and referred to the incident as “the sort of thing you see on television in the United States.”
Appearing in Perth’s Children’s Court alongside his parents, the court heard the boy fired three shots at the school’s buildings. One bullet hit a demountable building which had a child and a teacher inside, another shot hit a building and the third hit the ground.
The 15-year-old pled guilty to eight charges which included driving without a licence, discharging a firearm, intent to harm students and teachers, and possessing prohibited weapons. Charges over allegedly firing a shot at the ground and possessing a gel blaster were dismissed.
The ABC reported that after firing off three shots, the boy called Triple Zero and told the operator calmly that had been “going to kill people” but stopped shooting as he didn’t want his family to be connected to a killer.
The police arrived and arrested the teen. Upon searching his car, they discovered the two guns inside.
In the days before the incident, the boy allegedly told a friend not to go to school on the day he’d planned the shooting, had discussed school shootings in America with a student, and checked with two other friends what class they were in, per Sydney Morning Herald.
The boy is out on bail and waiting to be sentenced in February.
