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OREM — A competency evaluation was ordered Tuesday for a 16-year-old boy charged with attempting to kill five of his classmates in a locker-room rampage.
At 4th District Juvenile Court just down the road from his school, the teenager made his initial court appearance where Judge Douglas Nielsen announced that both parties had agreed to the evaluation and that the boy will remain in custody at a juvenile detention facility until a review hearing on Feb. 14.
The competency evaluation is meant to determine whether the 16-year-old understands the proceedings and is capable of facing the charges against him in court.
The boy, who was brought into the courtroom shackled, introduced himself to the judge by his first name. With his parents seated behind him holding hands, the teen nodded as Neilsen explained that preliminary and detention hearings will be stayed while the competency evaluation is completed.
The courtroom was filled for the brief hearing Tuesday with parents and family members of the victims, including one father who stopped the boy's parents to shake their hands and quietly express his sympathy as the couple left.
According to charging documents, the teen made plans the day before the Mountain View High School attacks on Nov. 15 to attempt to kill as many people as he could before dying himself. Expecting there to be "a lot of blood," the boy dressed in red, charges state, and selected what he thought would be sturdy steak knives and a bo staff for the attack.
The boy, who stabbed himself in the neck as school staff moved in on him, and the five boys who were injured all survived. Mountain View High School Principal Taran Chun said many credit divine intervention for helping the boys survive, and that all five victims have said they forgive the 16-year-old.
After the attack, the boy's parents released a statement apologizing for their son's actions, saying they are at a loss to explain why it happened. They also said the attack was not racially or ethnically motivated.
"The defendant made it very clear that he did not target anyone for any reason, and merely went after who was available with the goal of creating as many victims as possible," the charging documents state.
Prior to the incident, school district officials said the teen was a straight-A student and had no prior disciplinary issues. The boy had been home-schooled and enrolled at Mountain View in August, according to the district.
The 16-year-old, whom KSL News has chosen not to identify at this time, is charged with fives counts of attempted murder, a first-degree felony; failing to stop at the command of a law enforcer, a class A misdemeanor; and possession of a dangerous weapon with intent to assault, a class A misdemeanor.
Deputy Utah County attorney Sam Pead reaffirmed Tuesday that prosecutors haven't yet decided whether to seek to certify the teen as an adult, and did not specify whether that decision will be made before the Feb. 14 hearing.
