A 15-year-old Oregon boy who nearly died inside his own high school cafeteria is now accused of making that room the center of a domestic terrorism and attempted murder case.
The Benson Polytechnic High School student, whose name has been withheld because he is a minor, allegedly arrived at the Portland campus Sept. 8 with chemicals from home and combined them while classmates and school employees were close by.
Officials said the chemical reaction sent poisonous gas into the area shortly before 8:30 a.m., forcing staff to move students out while the boy needed urgent medical help.
The school nurse treated him in the cafeteria before emergency crews arrived. He was later taken to a hospital in critical condition and survived.
“Those first few moments were critical in preventing further harm and lives being lost,” Assistant Chief of Investigations Franz Schoening stated.
After the evacuation, more than 100 students and staff members were checked for possible exposure, and at least seven people needed medical attention.
Early testing pointed to hydrogen sulfide, according to Sgt. Jim DeFrain, who supervises both the investigation and the Metropolitan Explosive Disposal Unit.
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The Oregon National Guard reached the same preliminary finding, but officials also sent samples to an FBI lab. Those results had not come back by the time authorities discussed the case publicly.
Police also examined the teen’s activity before the cafeteria emergency and found what Portland Police Bureau Public Information Manager Mike Benner called “concerning behaviors and statements.”
Benner said investigators were looking at alleged interest in dangerous chemicals, explosives and violence.
The boy is charged with 19 criminal counts, including 10 counts of attempted aggravated murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder.
The case also includes first-degree domestic terrorism, second-degree domestic terrorism, unlawfully manufacturing and possessing a destructive device, possessing a weapon in a public building, unlawfully using a weapon and recklessly endangering another person.
His lawyers have denied the allegations, and The New York Times reported that the teen is being treated at an inpatient mental health facility.
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said prosecutors will seek to have the case handled in adult court instead of juvenile court.
Vasquez tied that decision to the safety of the children and staff members who were inside Benson Polytechnic High School when the chemicals were allegedly combined.
“And I want to be clear, they’re teenagers, but these are children, and they deserve a safe environment,” he emphasized.
The prosecution also became a vehicle for Vasquez to criticize Oregon’s juvenile justice rules, which end supervision at age 25 even in cases where prosecutors believe someone may remain dangerous.
“I think that that is wrong,” Vasquez declared.
He argued that the age cutoff does not account for cases involving allegations as severe as multiple attempted killings or domestic terrorism.
“I’m looking at conduct and how dangerous that is and what I consider to be safe for the community going forward,” he explained.
Vasquez said prosecutors were still looking for any additional criminal ties to the cafeteria case.
“If we determine or find any links, if there are people that can be charged, this office will charge them,” he warned.
The Oregon prosecution was not the only school-linked case involving alleged threats or violent political imagery.
In Alabama, three University of South Alabama students were taken into custody after authorities accused them of making online threats against President Donald Trump before his Oct. 2 appearance on campus.
Amare Jemal Woods, Cameron Lamark Lewis and Kayla Leaann Smith were arrested Friday, and each faces a federal count of threatening the president, 1819 News reported.
Investigators viewed the allegations as three separate cases rather than a single coordinated effort, the outlet reported.
Woods, a freshman aerospace engineering student, allegedly posted “he gotta die bro” beneath a TikTok video about Trump’s visit, the outlet added, citing an FBI affidavit.
Smith, an elementary education major, allegedly wrote “We only got one chance let’s take it” on another TikTok about the event, then posted an image of a person pretending to hold a gun, according to the affidavit.
Fox News reported that federal agents identified the posts during a social media sweep before the rally, then used emergency disclosure requests and campus police to connect the accounts to the students.
Woods’s attorney, Jason Darley, told FOX10 that prosecutors were overstating any threat from his client.
“If this kid is a threat, then everybody pecking on a keyboard is a threat,” Darley argued.
A conviction can bring a prison sentence of up to five years.
In California, Libs of TikTok posted an undated Contra Costa College video from San Pablo that appeared to show students using a Trump-like piñata as a target.
SCOOP: We just received videos of a disturbing event that took place on campus at Contra Costa College in CA
Students were directed to hit a Trump piñata until they decapitated it. Lorena Gonzalez, a counselor at the college, appeared to be overseeing it. After beheading the… pic.twitter.com/q18DThkOQE
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 15, 2026
The clip shows a blindfolded person spun in circles while a group looks on, then given a stick.
The piñata was photographed in a blue suit and red baseball cap while holding a sign that read “F— ICE.”
The person swung at the piñata and knocked off its head. An unidentified man then raised the decapitated figure above his head as the group cheered.
Libs of TikTok said Lorena Gonzalez, a college counselor, appeared to supervise and celebrate the scene.
Contra Costa College told Libs of TikTok that it does not “condone or allow violent political rhetoric” and said the matter had been “addressed as a personnel matter.”
Libs of TikTok said the episode happened “a few months ago,” but the video surfaced last month.
