Andrew Osantowski enrolled as a freshman in 2001 at De La Salle Collegiate High School in Warren. He earned high marks and chugged through honors courses, never hinting that there was anything like a ticking time bomb within. His mother said he is a History Channel addict who especially likes World War II and video games.
"Certainly, during freshman year, we never had any indication of any major issues," said Terrence George, De La Salle's principal. But before the first semester of his sophomore year ended, Osantowski abruptly transferred to St. Clement High School in Center Line.
Following advice from the school's lawyer, George declined to say whether Osantowski was expelled from De La Salle or left at will. He did say, though, that "there was no incident involving weapons. No incident involving hurting anybody, anything like that."
Janice Osantowski said her son didn't want to attend Catholic school anymore and had asked to go to Chippewa Valley High School, where most of his friends were. He enrolled there as a transfer student just before his arrest. That was the school, police said, that he planned to blow to shreds.
Chippewa Valley High School has approximately 2,000 students, many of whom were in class Thursday morning as Clinton Township police escorted Andrew Osantowski from the building. School was back in session Friday after police searches the previous evening found nothing dangerous.
Teachers and administrators huddled Friday morning, reviewing safety protocols and guidelines. A public address announcement to the classrooms and a letter sent home to parents acknowledged the incident and said counselors were available to speak with concerned teens, said Diane Blain, a district spokeswoman.
Tom Ptak, 17, a Chippewa Valley senior, said barely half of the students were in school Friday. He showed up in the morning but was yanked by his mother 10 minutes later because she feared for his safety.
John Doman, 17, skipped school Friday and decided to attend the arraignments. He said he and Andrew Osantowski are friends going back to kindergarten and worked together at the Fern Hill Country Club in Clinton Township during the summer.
"He was just like a normal kid," Doman said. "I knew he liked World War II, but I never knew he was worshiping Hitler or anything."
Andrew Osantowski's e-mails showed he "had a plan," Courie said. "He just seemed to rattle on. At one point he said he couldn't handle the problems that he was dealing with."
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.