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Md. Student Says He Brought Gun To School To Guard Against Mass Shooter

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Troubling journal entries have been revealed of a Maryland student who is charged with bringing a loaded gun to his Clarksburg High School classroom and telling detectives he did so to protect against a possible mass shooter.

That's according to new court documents filed in the case of Alwin Chen, the honor student who was arrested just one day after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead.

In one journal entry that was dated May 1, 2017, Chen allegedly wrote, "I might start doing some vigilante operations. I don't plan on killing people, but I'm surely going to hit evil people."

In another entry, which Montgomery County prosecutors revealed in court documents obtained by WJLA, he wrote, "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."

Investigators say a student tipped off a school resource officer that the 18-year-old might be in possession of a gun on the afternoon of Feb. 15. That same student told police Chen had previously brought the gun to school as far back as December 2017.

The officer, along with school security, went to Chen's classroom and escorted him to the school office, where they allegedly found a loaded 9mm handgun in his book bag and a knife in his front shirt pocket, which the student admitted to possessing prior to the search.

It was a Glock semiautomatic handgun he built from parts ordered online and tools bought at Home Depot, The Washington Post reports.

The court documents state he likely brought that gun to school every day between December and when he was arrested in February.

During a subsequent search of Chen's Germantown home, authorities reported finding several guns, ammunition, replica grenades, a detonator for C4 land mines and a ballistic vest and a journal.

Chen's attorney pushed for his client to be released on bond.

"People here in Maryland are allowed to have weapons and the fact that weapons exist in a home doesn't make somebody guilty of anything. It doesn't make somebody a danger," Defense attorney David Felsen said last week.

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 after the incident.

As more allegations come to light, students are stunned.

"Glad that it didn't turn into anything like the Florida incident," student Aishah Kinney said.

Police say no specific threats were made in his journal and they don't believe the weapons were stolen.

However, prosecutors say he presents "an unacceptable danger to the community," and they recommend Chen be held without bond pending trial.

Chen will have an emergency bond hearing in Rockville Court Tuesday afternoon.

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