Montana Man Admits to Planning ‘Columbine-Style’ Attack on School

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - A Helena man, 25-year-old Logan Pallister, admitted to state and federal authorities in Helena Federal Court on Tuesday, January 16 that he planned to commit a Columbine-style attack on a local high school in May of 2022, using a homemade bomb, pipe bombs and numerous firearms including a silencer.

KGVO News spoke to U.S. Attorney for the State of Montana, Jesse Laslovich about the case.

Alert Co-Worker Helps Thwart a 'Columbine-style' School Attack

“This is a testament to the work of local and federal law enforcement,” began Laslovich. “This was brought to our attention by someone who worked with Mr. Pallister where he was bragging about all the guns he had and the bombs that he had made. He was also making statements about bombing or shooting up a high school here in Helena where I live.”

Pallister was arrested at about 4:00 a.m. on May 31, 2022 by Helena City Police officers as he was walking towards his vehicle while wearing a black trench coat and carrying a duffle bag, similar to the Columbine mass shooting case.

The Suspect was Arrested in a Black Trench Coat with a Black Duffle Bag

“He pled (guilty) to possession of an unregistered destructive device and possession of an unregistered silencer,” he said. The unregistered silencer actually was an oil filter that he had converted into a silencer, and so that's why we were able to hold him accountable for those things. He has been incarcerated since he was indicted. He'll ultimately go to federal prison as a result. Unfortunately, under federal law it's a maximum of only 10 years in prison for each charge, however those sentences can be run consecutively for a total of 20 years, with three years supervised release.”

Laslovich said this is definitely a case where the motto ‘if you see something, say something’ led to the apprehension of a suspect that might very well have committed mass murder at a Helena school.

Laslovich Emphasized the Importance of 'If you see Something, Say Something'

“If it had not been for the courage of the former work colleague of the defendant, we would not have known and we could have had a mass event in Montana,” he said. “Things that we see all over the country; I talked briefly about Columbine, and indeed, this defendant had talked about (an event) similar to Columbine, so law enforcement worked quickly and diligently on the case and they were able to arrest him very early one morning while he was in a black trench coat, and had guns and ammunition on him.”

Pallister faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

When incarcerated in a federal prison, the convict must serve the full sentence with no possibility of parole.

The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.