Grant Acord did not enter a plea
during his first court appearance where he appeared via video monitor from
jail.
Acord, 17, was charged as an
adult with attempted aggravated murder.
Acord's mother says her son
suffers from a rare form of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"My heart goes out to everyone
affected by Grant's struggle with PANDAS, a rare form of OCD," Grant Acord's
mother said through her attorney.
"I grieve for my son but
understand and support the efforts of law enforcement to keep our beloved
community safe," the mother, Marianne Fox, added. "This is a challenging and
confusing time for everyone who knows Grant. I will have no further comment
while I wait with the rest of you to see what unfolds."
Acord's goal, said Benton County
District Attorney John Haroldson, "was to model the Columbine shootings with
some adjustments that would make it a greater success."
PANDAS, which stands for
pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus, is
caused by the body's immune reaction to a strep infection, not the infection
itself, according to the International OCD Foundation.
Dr. Rosario Trifiletti, a New
Jersey-based child neurologist and expert on PANDAS, notes there is a similar
but broader diagnosis called PANS, or pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric
syndrome, that affects 1% to 2% of children and can result in "explosive
violence" among sufferers.
Trifiletti, who emphasized he
cannot comment on Acord's case because he hasn't treated him, said he has seen
youngsters with PANS become deeply fearful and violent with their parents.
"I think the thing that shocks
parents is how quickly they change. They can snap," he said.
In his research, however, he has
never seen any sufferer premeditate violence in the manner outlined in the
allegations against Acord.
"There has not been a kid who
has done anything close to this," the doctor said.
There are no clear diagnostic
criteria for PANDAS, according to the PANDAS Network, which says the disorder is marked by a rapid
onset and intensification of obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
Among those, according to the
National Institutes of Health, are "obsessive thoughts, compulsive behaviors and
motor or vocal tics." Those symptoms can be accompanied by anxiety attacks,
irritability, extreme mood swings, temper tantrums, immaturity, hyperactivity,
handwriting changes and problems in school, the NIH says.
As for PANS, the peer-reviewed
journal Pediatrics & Therapeutics cites several categories of
"neuropsychiatric symptoms" that can accompany the disorder: anxiety; emotional
changes and/or depression; irritability, aggression and/or severely oppositional
behaviors; behavioral regression; a drop in school performance; sensory or motor
abnormalities; and bodily symptoms such as sleep disturbances and problems with
urination.
Alan Lanker, the attorney for
the mother, said Acord has received treatment, but said he did not know the
details of the teen's treatment.
"He's very mentally ill. He has
PANDAS. It's a brain infection that's causing a mental illness. It's been their
concern for some time," Lanker said.
Disturbing
allegations
Police found six types of
explosives after they arrested Acord on Thursday night at a home in Albany,
Oregon, Haroldson said. Authorities believe he was planning to bomb West Albany
High School.
They recovered napalm, pipe and
drain cleaner bombs, as well as Molotov cocktails Friday from "a secret
compartment that had been created in the floorboards" of the teen's bedroom,
Haroldson said.
With the help of checklists and
diagrams, the prosecutor said, Acord wanted to outdo the Columbine
shootings.
The 1999 massacre at Colorado's
Columbine High School left one teacher and 14 students dead, including the two
gunmen.
Albany police became suspicious
after they received information suggesting Acord was making a bomb with the
intent of detonating it at a school.
"I've been doing this job for a
while, and this was probably the scariest moment I've ever had as a school
resource officer," Sgt. Alan Lynn told CNN affiliate KPTV.
"Luckily in this incident,
somebody had the courage to come forward and say, 'This is what I know,'
reported that to us, and we were able to investigate that. And because of that
information, we were able to stop a horrific event (from) occurring in our
community."
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