A 15-year-old student at Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland faces 19 criminal counts, including domestic terrorism and attempted aggravated murder, after authorities say he mixed chemicals brought from home inside the school on Sept. 8, releasing toxic gases that sickened and endangered students and staff.
The teenager, whose name has not been released because of his age, was himself critically injured in the incident and survived. Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said his office will seek to move the case from juvenile court into the adult system.
“Safety in our schools is not something that can be negotiated,” Vasquez said at an Oct. 2 news conference. “That violence or the threat of violence in a school… it doesn’t just stay in that building. It follows families home. It sits at the dinner table with them.”
Portland Police Bureau Public Information Manager Mike Benner said investigators had identified “concerning behaviors and statements” from the teen before the incident, including an interest in hazardous chemicals, explosives and violence.
The charges against the teen include 10 counts of attempted aggravated murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of attempted second-degree murder, one count of first-degree domestic terrorism and one count of second-degree domestic terrorism. He also faces counts of unlawfully manufacturing and possessing a destructive device, possessing a weapon in a public building, unlawfully using a weapon, and recklessly endangering another person.
According to The New York Times, the teen’s lawyers have denied the allegations and say he is currently receiving treatment at an inpatient mental health facility.
How the Incident Unfolded
Assistant Chief of Investigations Franz Schoening said the chemical release happened shortly before 8:30 a.m., while numerous students and staff were nearby. Teachers and administrators moved students out of the area while the school nurse began treating the teen before first responders arrived.
“Those first few moments were critical in preventing further harm and lives being lost,” Schoening said.
More than 100 students and staff were assessed after the building was evacuated, and at least seven required medical care, Schoening said.
Sgt. Jim DeFrain, who supervises the investigation and the Metropolitan Explosive Disposal Unit, said initial testing pointed to hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas, and that an Oregon National Guard team reached the same conclusion. Samples were sent to an FBI laboratory for further testing, with results still pending at the time of the briefing. The FBI is also examining electronic equipment seized during searches tied to the case.
A Prosecutor’s Broader Complaint
Vasquez used the news conference to criticize what he called a structural flaw in Oregon’s juvenile justice system, which ends its oversight of offenders at age 25 regardless of continuing risk to the public.
“I think that that is wrong,” Vasquez said, arguing the cutoff fails to account for the danger someone convicted of multiple killings or domestic terrorism could still pose after that age.
“I’m looking at conduct and how dangerous that is and what I consider to be safe for the community going forward.”
Vasquez added that the case remains under investigation and that his office would pursue charges against anyone else found to have criminal involvement. “If we determine or find any links, if there are people that can be charged, this office will charge them,” he said.
He also pushed back on any suggestion that the teen’s age diminishes the seriousness of the case. “And I want to be clear, they’re teenagers, but these are children, and they deserve a safe environment,” he said.
