CrimeWatch

SAN MATEO (CBS 5) ― A 17-year-old boy accused of detonating two pipe bombs at a San Mateo high school while armed with a chainsaw, sword and explosives appeared in court Wednesday afternoon on charges of trying to murder two faculty members — a teacher he had a grudge against and an aide who got in the way, a prosecutor told CBS 5.

Alexander Robert Youshock, a former student at Hillsdale High School, did not enter a plea to eight felony charges that also included exploding or attempting to explode bombs in a school to terrorize others and possession of dangerous weapons the sword and chain saw.

No one was injured in Monday's attack, which quickly ended when faculty members wrestled the attacker to the ground. Prosecutors have charged Youshock as an adult in the case.

"He planned this elaborately," said Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti,
adding that Youshock could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of the attempted murder charges.

Guidotti told CBS 5 that Youshock had a grudge against his chemistry teacher, Meghan Spalding, and that she was his intended target. Security aide Jana Torres was also considered a "target" because he threw the first pipe bomb directly at her as Torres confronted him in the hallway, according to the prosecutor.

"They were both targets, based on his actions," said Guidotti. "But I don't have any reason to believe he had any anomisotity toward [Torres]. I don't think she was a planned target."

Guidotti told CBS 5 that it was too early to say whether the alleged bomber was going after more specific victims.

"As the investigation goes along, we may determine other people who were intended targets," Guidotti said.

San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer has said investigators believe Youshock planned to carry out a "cold-blooded plot of execution" on students and teachers because he was angry with the school administration.

Sources close to the investigation previously told CBS 5 that Youshock had been planning the attack since March, apparently in retaliation for having been expelled from the school last year.

Principal Jeff Gilbert confirmed Wednesday that Youshock hadn't been a student at the school for more than a year.

Sources also previously told CBS 5 that police had determined Youshock purchased all the components for the pipe bombs from a local Home Depot store. The explosives themselves were apparently purchased over the Internet and Youshock is believed to have downloaded an Internet manual on how to build the bombs, the sources said. 

According to the sources, Youshock carried the chainsaw in a hollowed out guitar case and wanted to first attack students and staff with it. The boy also carried a clear welder's mask, apparently to protect his face from splatter from the chain saw, the sources indicated. Somehow, police said, Youshock failed to start the chainsaw.

Those same sources told CBS 5 that Youshock was driven to the school area on Monday by his mother; she dropped him off two blocks from the school under the guise that he was visiting a friend.

The sources indicated Youshock had also purchased door-stops and planned to use them to prevent students from escaping their classrooms during his attack.

Guidotti said Youshock was being prosecuted as an adult because of the serious nature of the alleged crimes and because he was about eight months from his 18th birthday.

Youshock was brought into the packed courtroom Wednesday afternoon in handcuffs and his facial expression hardly changed throughout the hearing.

Youshock's parents and sister sat in the front row as he stood behind a thick glass partition wearing a lime-green T-shirt with his right arm heavy bandaged.

The prosecutor said she believed Youshock was injured when he was wrestled down by faculty members at the school.

San Mateo Superior Court Judge Mark Forcum granted the prosecutor's request that Youshock be held in Hillcrest Juvenile Hall without bail until his next court date on Sept. 3.

Meanwhile, classes resumed Wednesday at the school for the first time since Monday's incident.

Students and staff members participated an assembly where those who took down the attacker received a standing ovation.

The morning was spent discussing the incident, with classes resuming in the afternoon. Counselors also talked to individual students.

"They're trying to get back to normal," said Kirk Black, associate superintendent for the San Mateo Union High School District. "I think everybody is really coming together. They're relieved that no one was hurt and that school is back in session."

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