Mom Arrested for Buying Ammo, Gear for Son’s Planned Mass Killing

Oxford High School. Apalachee High School. Abundant Life Christian School.

These three names, out of all of the mass murders committed at an American school, stand out as somewhat unique. All three have involved parents being prosecuted for aiding and abetting their child’s eventual mass murder. Allegedly, in the last two cases. The story in all three incidents is that parents bought guns for children they knew were troubled and then somehow failed to secure those guns effectively.

Now, another parent joins the club of those charged, though this time, the shooting never happened.

A Texas mother has been arrested and charged for allegedly buying ammunition and tactical gear for her son’s planned “mass targeted violence” at his middle school, officials said.

Ashley Pardo, 33, was arrested on Monday and charged with aiding in commission of terrorism after she allegedly provided ammunition and tactical gear to her son, whose behavior demonstrated plans for a “mass targeted violence” aimed at Rhodes Middle School in San Antonio, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.

Back in January, Pardo’s son was first contacted in reference to “drawings of the local school he currently attended,” the affidavit said. These drawings included a map of the school — labeled “suicide route” — and the name of the school written beside a rifle, the affidavit said.

The son, who was not named in the affidavit, was contacted by officials at the time and described a “fascination with past mass shooters,” according to the affidavit.

In April, the son was found researching the 2019 Christchuch mosque shooting in New Zealand — a tragedy that killed 51 people — on a school-issued computer, the affidavit said.

He was “subsequently suspended and later in the day attempted suicide with a straight razor causing significant injuries and requiring over 100 stitches,” the affidavit noted. The boy attended an alternative school until May 7, according to officials.

His grandmother, with whom he had been staying “on various occasions,” contacted police on Monday after she found her grandson “hitting a live bullet with a hammer,” the affidavit said.

The middle schooler told his grandmother he received the bullet from Pardo and that she had “guns and ammunition at her house,” according to the affidavit.

Pardo was reported as having been aware of this bizarre fascination, the troubling artwork, and violent comments, and simply said she didn’t care.

She then bought things like plate carriers, magazines, a ballistic helmet, and ammunition in exchange for babysitting duties for his siblings despite having been clearly told that her son was troubled.

Now, I’m not one to judge a book by its cover, but the photo of Pardo looks like what an AI would churn out if you asked it to create a photo of a terrible mother. Pro tip: If you don’t want to be judged by your neck and face tattoos, stop doing things that seem to suggest people with neck and face tattoos aren’t the most upstanding of citizens.

I’m not comfortable with people being arrested for what are ostensibly lawful actions in and of themselves because of what a third party might be planning, but that’s not what really hit me as I read this story.

What hit me is a question about what the hell is up with these parents in the first place.

I’m going to have sympathy for a parent who was caught unaware that their child was having homicidal thoughts, who carefully hid their plan to kill as many people as possible, and who unknowingly provided aid toward that. They didn’t know, and they shouldn’t be punished for it.

But these four parents were or are accused of knowing there was a problem and, in three of the cases, bought a gun for the troubled child. In this case, it wasn’t a gun, but it was still material support toward a violent act of terrorism.

The parents in Oxford were convicted.

My thing is, why? Why would you ignore this? 

I’m a parent. I look at my kids as amazing gifts from God, but they’re still people, which means they can have troubles in their lives. They can be troubled.

When that happens, I want to help them. I want to do what I can to help them get better, to deal with their demons, and to get back to some semblance of normal.

I trust my kids, but none of my children have ever been fascinated with mass murderers and suggested a plan to slaughter their classmates. Neither of them has given me a reason not to trust them. If there was even a hint of trouble, though, the last thing I’d do is literally anything that might enable them to carry out such a horrible plan.

And yet, these allegedly parents did.

I can’t wrap my head around why they’d do something like this. I mean, yeah, I get that I’m looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, but I just don’t see a world where my mentally ill child would somehow convince me to arm them up, give them easy access to a firearm, or buy them tactical gear that could be used to do something horrible. It makes no sense to me.

Yet this is apparently a thing now.

Parents, knock it off. You’re the adult. Freaking act like it.