Student Expected To Plead Guilty For Bringing Gun To High School

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — A Germantown teenager accused of bringing a loaded handgun to Clarksburg High School one day after the mass shooting in Parkland, Fl. is expected to plead guilty, according to court documents filed Thursday morning in the Montgomery County Circuit Court.

Alwin Chen, 18, was arrested Feb. 5 for having a loaded, 9mm handgun and a knife on him at the school, police said.

Chen was charged with possession of a handgun, possession of a firearm by a person under 21 years old and possession of a firearm on school property.

The Washington Post reports Chen intends to plead guilty to one count of carrying a handgun on public school property. The agreement is not final until it is approved by a judge. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 24.

Court documents filed in the case said Chen, an honor roll student, regularly carried a homemade Glock semiautomatic handgun in his backpack or in a holster in his shirt to protect himself and others, The Post reports. He admitted to police that he brought the gun to school and "described it as a regular occurrence," prosecutors said.

Chen said he built the gun from parts he ordered online and tools he bought at Home Depot. He also had access to guns his father kept in their home.

Montgomery County Police said they recovered two rifles, a shotgun, two handguns, ammunition, inert (replica) grenades, a ballistic vest and a replica electrical firing device (referred to as a clacker) at the home.

SEE ALSO:

• Student Regularly Brought Gun To School To Protect Himself
• Student Who Brought Gun To School Had More Weapons At Home
• Bomb Threats Reported At 2 Montgomery County High Schools
• Student Brings Loaded Gun, Knife To High School

A student told police that Chen was "always talking about bringing guns to school and saying how he would kill anyone," The Post reports.

The same student told the Clarksburg High School's School Resource Officer (SRO) that Chen brought a gun to school the day he was arrested, just one day after 17 people were gunned down at a Parkland, Florida high school.

Chen's attorneys said prosecutors originally focused on a "list of grievances" against classmates found in Chen's journal. Montgomery County Police later clarified, saying: "There is no wording regarding any threat nor any expression of wanting to cause harm to anyone at the school in this journal."

Chen's journal entries included some of the following statements, according to court documents:

• "I can't help but feel angry at myself and mad at the world. … I am an insane and terrible person."
• "I might start doing some vigilante operations. I don't plan on killing people, but I'm surely going to hit evil people."
• "Sometimes I think I am crazy or mentally ill. But I hide it and refuse to admit it because I know how to cope and blend into society but it's just too lonely."

“The defendant repeatedly stated that the reason he regularly brought the gun to school was to protect himself and other students in case there was a school shooting,” Assistant State’s Attorney Frank Lazzaro said in court documents.

Chen remains at the Montgomery County jail at this time. More details on Chen's motives are expected to be released at the April 24 hearing.

Photos via MCPD