Atlantis Beach Baptist College shooting: Teen gunman remanded in custody, told to expect immediate detention

The teen behind Australia’s first school shooting has been remanded in custody after being out on bail for all but 10 days since the shocking incident — and warned he will stay in detention for some time. The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be identified due to his age, had been looking up gun massacres around the world on the internet in the weeks leading up to the terrifying emergency at Atlantis Beach Baptist College in Two Rocks in May 2023. He searched multiple times for Kosta Kecmanovic, a 13-year-old who killed nine in a Serbian school slaughter. Other disturbing searches included the age of criminal responsibility in WA, “caskets”, “manic episode”, conditions in juvenile detention and “Do people get solitary confinement if they plan to kill in prison?”. The boy had spoken to a friend twice about shooting at the school, but he didn’t take it seriously and laughed because the teen had previously said he would do things and didn’t follow through. On the morning of the shooting, he sent a Snapchat photo of himself to a different friend with the words “something sinister” written in French. The boy took two of his father’s rifles from a locked cabinet in their home and his SUV, then parked in the school carpark from where he fired three shots, sending students and teachers fleeing for cover. Two of the bullets went through a classroom that was being used as a storage room, while a third struck the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt. After firing the shots, he called triple-0 and spoke to an operator for about 16 minutes before police swarmed, shouted at him to get on the ground and handcuffed him. The boy told the operator that he had shot at people and wasn’t sure if anyone was hurt. Asked if he had intended to hurt anyone, the boy replied: “Not anymore.” When asked if he was targeting anyone specific, he replied: “Just people. Anyone”. “I was going to kill people and myself.” Asked what stopped him, the boy said he did not want his siblings “to be the sibling of a killer”. He initially said “I’m not sure” and “I don’t know” when asked why he did it, later admitting that he was angry and believed he had no future, having flunked Year 10 and not done work experience. In Perth Children’s Court on Friday, defence counsel Simon Freitag said the boy had suffered a major depressive episode after bullying and undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder. He also had a relationship break-up that had left him feeling like his reputation had been ruined. He was upset after the girl divulged intimate matters to friends and stories of an alleged incident spread across two schools. But the disturbing internet searches continued even after she apologised, Children’s Court President Hylton Quail noted. “He’s concerned there’s no way of reining it (the reputational damage) in,” Mr Freitag said. “The damage is done.” One of his internet searches was “defamation of character”. Mr Freitag said pre-meditation was a significant issue and the ordeal, while lasting less than three minutes, had left students and teachers significantly distressed. “Every child who was there that day will remember this ... every teacher will ... for the rest of their lives,” he said. One teacher — fearing the worst — texted her fiancé to tell him that she loved him. Another thought a boy had been shot because she saw him lying on the ground behind his backpack as he tried to hide. Another teacher got within 20 metres of the shooter to ask if he was okay and he replied: “Stay back”. The offending was “incredibly serious”, Mr Freitag said, acknowledging that an example had to be made of his client. President Quail said it was Australia’s first ever recorded school shooting. “We do not want a copycat,” Mr Freitag said. But he asked for the boy not to be “sacrificed on that altar of general deterrence”, arguing immediate detention was “not called for” and that the boy would get better treatment and education in the community. President Quail told the slim-built boy that he already knew he faced immediate detention, having discussed it with his psychiatrist. “The question is how long,” the judge said. He adjourned the matter until Thursday to consider the submissions and resolve factual issues. Lifeline 13 11 14