Police: S.D. Teen Planned to Blow Up High School

Published: August 31, 2010

SISSETON, S.D.— Police have arrested a student who they say was planning to bomb his high school, torture and rape women, kill any survivors and “become the world’s most infamous sociopath.”

Joseph Thomas Hansen, 18, was arrested Aug. 23, the day before he was scheduled to begin his senior year at Sisseton High School. Police arrested the teen after a school resource officer received a tip about Hansen’s suspected plot. 

Hansen allegedly told some of his co-workers that he had enough fireworks to blow up Sisseton High School, and that the first day of class would be a short one, according to ArgusLeader.com. Authorities searched his room and seized weapons, ammunition and materials used to make explosives, as well as a diagram of the school and notes about the campus’ lockdown policy.

Previously, school officials discovered that Hansen had researched the 1999 Columbine school massacre.

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On Aug. 31, the suspect pleaded not guilty to explosives charges. He is currently being held on $500,000 bond and is scheduled for another hearing Sept. 14.

Read the full story.

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