Oregon is like a fishing vest, full of pockets of stuff you forgot about, stuff you never knew was there, and stuff with a function you can't remember to save your life.
It was from one of these pockets that Kristopher Clay emerged. Clay, 24, was a janitor at South Medford High School when, on July 20, he walked into a Medford police station and said he had "homicidal thoughts." The police put him in a behavioral health unit of a hospital and checked it out.
You gotta feel for a guy who knows that what he's doing is wrong and tells someone that he needs help. Clay had made remarks to people before that, but nobody caught on that he was serious.
Clay had been declared mentally ill by a judge in 2019 after he was arrested for disorderly conduct. The charges were dropped, but he was ruled ineligible to buy guns. Nevertheless, the police found ammunition, firearms, gun parts and tactical gear, as well as maps, manifestos and a journal. The high school was a target, but not the only one. The targets were "areas, not people," the police said.
The scary part is that Clay was fully prepared to commit the crimes. He'd done everything but start shooting.
The high school had hired Clay in February after a criminal background check, a reference check and a drug test, but there had been no mental health check. The district was right on the ball when it came to firing him, though.
The police arrested Clay on August 4. At his arraignment, the judge arranged for Clay to have a public defender. His bail is $2 million.
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https://www.kdrv.com/content/news/South-Medford-custodian-surrenders-to-police-after-allegedly-planning-mass-shooting-575033111.html
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