On Thursday, December 13, 2018, a teenage boy showed up at a Richmond, Indiana, middle school armed with two guns, his mind set on staging a school shooting. Thankfully, disaster was averted that day. Despite a vehicle stuffed full of explosives, the boy, Brandon Clegg, was stopped, thanks to the efforts of local police authorities, who were tipped off by the shooter’s mother.
Now, sources close to the investigation have revealed that the boy’s two weapons, a .45-caliber handgun and a .223-caliber rifle, were stolen from a glass gun cabinet in the 14-year-old’s home. While the cabinet had been locked, investigators found the glass broken on the day of the shooting, Call 6 reports.
Meanwhile, the boy’s mother has been hailed as a hero. On the morning of Thursday, December 13, she phoned the police, telling them that her son had taken a male family member hostage and forced him to drive to the middle school, Dennis Intermediate School.
Police responded to the school and found the boy at his vehicle, attempting to unpack something. When he saw the police, the boy ran with his guns into the school and began to shoot at the officers. A short firefight ensued until, eventually, the boy turned the gun on himself, ending his own life.
In a press statement, Congressman-elect Greg Pence had this to say: “It’s incredibly concerning to learn what unfolded at Dennis Intermediate School this morning in Richmond. I want to thank the local first responders and law enforcement who assisted and continue to monitor the situation to keep our students safe. The safety and well-being of our Hoosier children is our most important priority.”
Thankfully, no one but the shooter himself died in the assault. While several officers followed the boy into the school, others remained outside, discovering several explosive devices inside the boy’s vehicle. Investigators believe he was trying to bring the explosives into the school but was stymied by the quick response of police authorities.
That quick response was only made possible by the boy’s mother, who quickly called authorities after her son took a male family member hostage in their home. If she had hesitated before phoning the police, the situation at the school would have been much worse, investigators say.
The investigation into the boy’s plot is still ongoing. Federal authorities are now combing through the boy’s digital footprint but say their search has also turned up several valuable leads. At the same time, students at the Dennis Intermediate School have finally returned to class. Their first day of classes since the shooting began on Monday, January 7.
The school district is busy putting in place new systems to track visitors to school buildings. In a social media post published on January 7, the school district announced that it would be switching to the Raptor Visitor Management System, a protocol already used by other school districts in Central Indiana. Raptor will allow the Dennis Intermediate School’s administrators to know who is inside the school at all times.
