The severely troubled 15-year-old who terrorized Hastings Middle School with a handgun last April will remain in juvenile detention and treatment until he's 21.
The teen could also face a nine-year adult prison term if he violates court orders or commits a new crime, according to the sentence imposed by Dakota County Judge Richard Spicer. The youth, whose name is not being released because of his age, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree assault and had two other charges dismissed.
The private hearing Monday in Hastings was a culmination of a painful road traveled by the youth, who was in a Russian orphanage until age 3 and was abused and neglected. He's been diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome and deep-seated mental and emotional problems that led his frustrated adoptive parents to place him in foster care and warn authorities they feared he could become violent to other children.
A year after that warning, he broke into several classrooms at the school, pointed the gun at faculty and students, and failed to fire the weapon only because he had loaded it with the wrong ammunition.
The rampage kept students locked in the school for much of the day and left many traumatized and fearful.
But after learning of the teen's past, many also felt sympathy.
"They just want him to get help, and that's what we want, too: Get him what he needs so that he can hopefully live a better life," school counselor Ellen Rademacher said. "Of course, our concern was for every student in the building. And then, in hindsight also looking out for him, and his needs, too. He needs some support."
Spicer said he meted out a plan to not only protect the public, but to try to piece together the wreckage of a young life. The judge placed the teen in a long-term program at a juvenile detention center, followed by long-term residential treatment with therapy and other mental health services.
