Police Thwart 'Columbine-Style' Campus Assault

C U P E R T I N O, Calif., Jan. 30 -- Based on a tip from a drug store photo lab clerk, police arrested a 19-year-old San Jose man they said planned to carry out a "Columbine-style attack" on a local community college with 30 pipe bombs, 20 Molotov cocktails and other weapons.

Police arrested Al DeGuzman, a student at De Anza College, on Monday evening and found the arsenal of bombs and booby traps at the house where he lived with his parents.

Police also found a tape recording on which they said DeGuzman expressed sympathy with the two teenagers who killed 13 people and themselves at Colorado's Columbine High School in April 1999.

They said they also found a diagram of the De Anza campus and other notes indicating that DeGuzman intended to begin planting bombs at 4:30 a.m. today and then spring his attack at 12:30 p.m. in the school's main cafeteria. Police said they thought he had been planning the attack for two years.

"This was an elaborate plan for a mass murder," said San Jose Deputy Police Chief Mike Miceli. "He had a game plan and was very intent on doing what he was going to do."

Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies and other officials evacuated the campus at De Anza, a community college with 25,000 students about 10 miles east of San Jose, at 9 a.m. today.

Police offered no motive for the alleged plan and said they believe DeGuzman has no prior criminal record.

He faces charges on 30 counts of possession of an explosive device, 20 counts of possession of a firebomb, and two counts of possession of an illegal weapon, for having a sawed-off shotgun and rifle. He was being held at the Santa Clara County jail.

DeGuzman will not likely be arraigned until Wednesday afternoon, said Tom Farris, assistant Santa Clara County district attorney.

Posed With an Arsenal

Miceli said San Jose police learned of DeGuzman's arsenal at 6 p.m. Monday when a girl who worked at a local Longs Drug store called police after developing photos of DeGuzman posing with his arsenal. The girl's father is a San Jose police officer.