WASECA, Minn. A teen whose elaborate plot to kill his family and bomb his school was foiled intended to die during his planned massacre, according to recordings released Tuesday.
'I didn't have plans of living past that day,' John David LaDue, 17, told police in an interview after his May arrest.
LaDue is charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, six counts of possessing explosive devices and and two counts of first-degree criminal damage to property. All the charges reportedly involve a plot to kill his parents, his sister, and then a school liaison officer and as many students as he could.
'I wanted to get taken down by the SWAT just to show I wasn't a wimp.'
In the audio recording LaDue sounds calm as he details his plans to set off bombs in the hallways inside his high school in Waseca where he was a junior.
'Then my plans were to enter and throw Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs and destroy everyone and then when SWAT comes I would destroy myself,' he said.
The case against the teen is laid out in hundreds of pages of documents also released Tuesday. In addition there were videos showing disturbing behavior of him testing bombs that he made from materials that were later found in a storage locker. It was the same locker he was walking to when someone saw him acting suspicious and called 911.
After his arrest, police say LaDue told them the plot was written down in a notebook and kept in a locked guitar case in his room. LaDue also said he had an assault rifle, a number of handguns and 400 rounds of ammunition in a gun safe that was also in his room. Search warrants were issued, and police recovered seven firearms, ammunition, and three functional bombs from LaDue's home, along with black clothing and a ski mask.
A bomb squad searched the storage unit and found three additional completed explosive devices and materials to make many more. Members of the bomb squad told prosecutors they were shocked by the volume of bomb-making materials and components LaDue had.
LaDue dispels possible theories that bullying led him to plan the massacre.
'I was not bullied at all,' he told police. 'I don't think I've ever been bullied in my life. I have good parents, I live in a good town. I think I'm just really mentally ill. And no one's noticed and I've been trying to hide it.'
Yet it's those good parents and his older sister he claims he wanted to kill.
'They did nothing wrong. I just want as many victims as possible,' LaDue added.
He said he also planned to shoot students with guns he stole from his father who he claims had no idea what was going on.
'He thinks I'm just a good kid because I can lie pretty well and persuade him that I'm just ordinary.'
LaDue's voice wavers a few times in the interview, except, including the moment he describes why he wanted to die.
'I really wanted to get out of this place,' he said.
The detective asked, 'Why is this place so bad?'
'I don't know. I don't really care for it,' LaDue said.
A psychological exam is pending.
