In the real world, he was a shy suburban teenager who lived with his family on a Clinton Township cul-de-sac amid lawn ornaments, tidy gardens and children's play sets.
Source Detroit Free Press
But in the anonymous world of the Internet, police said, Andrew Osantowski, 17, became "Nazi Bot Sadistic," a chat room regular who wrote of his high school's police liaison officer: "Now I'm more than ever determined to blow her head off."
The two worlds collided Friday, when Osantowski was publicly accused of turning his family's two-story home into a virtual armory with a stockpile of weapons that included an AK47, chemicals and pipe bombs. His plan was a Columbine-scale massacre at Chippewa Valley High School, where he'd enrolled 10 days before his arrest, police said.
His father, Marvin Osantowski, 52, and neighbor Dominic Queentry, 33, also are charged with felonies linked to the teen's alleged plotting.
"At first glance, you would think that this is some kid who has got to be lying: He can't have an AK47; he can't have two shotguns; he can't have all these explosives," said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor John Courie. "It's really scary to find out it is true. Thank God everyone took it seriously."
The charges against the three stem from angry e-mails the teen allegedly sent to a teenage girl in Washington state. Based on a tip from her father, a state university police officer, Clinton Township authorities raided Andrew Osantowski's home Thursday and seized a cache of weapons, explosive materials, homemade videos and Nazi memorabilia.
Police displayed the seized items Friday, along with marijuana plants taken from Queentry's home. They said Marvin Osantowski knew there were stolen weapons in his house and that Queentry coached Andrew Osantowski on making bombs -- even taking the teen to a wooded area in Clinton Township and blowing up a tree to show how explosives work.
Andrew Osantowski "was angry at everything," said Clinton Township Police Capt. Douglas Mills. "I don't know if it was one particular race. It didn't seem to matter to him."
Andrew's mother, Janice Osantowski, said she was stunned when police called her at work Thursday and told her they would be searching her home. She knew her son and husband had been arrested, but she didn't hear from either one until Friday morning when her husband called collect to ask her to arrange for an attorney and attend his arraignment.
Article comments
1 - Adam Bloom
What does the book have to do with the rest of the post?
2 - Jennifer Mitts
Adam, a girl discovered things about this boy online. The beginning and the end of the article allude to that.
I must say, this is very interesting. I wish there were some way to turn back the clock and make kids less and less violent instead of more and more violent. What are we doing that's causing this? How can we stop it?
3 - bhw
Turn off your TV. Stop going to blockbuster "action" movies.
Those would probably be a good start.
4 - Mac Diva
Let's just say that if Diva, who doesn't do pain, relents and has a child, she will know what is under his bed. And, it had better be dust bunnies.
But, seriously, I believe the parents usually know about the firepower. In this case, Pops probably helped acquire the guns, as did Kip Kinkel's. Giving the kid what he wants so he will stop whining is not the best policy.
5 - bhw
It sounds like this particular kid's father is a little loopy, to say the least. Not the best one to be checking under his bed for dust bunnies.