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Student's Arsenal Raises Serious Questions

Photo by BILLY TOWNSEND / The Tampa Tribune

Some of the ammunition and other items seized during a search warrant of Shawn Newberry's home. His weapons were not seized. They were turned over voluntarily to police by his stepfather, police said.

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By CHRIS ECHEGARAY
and BILLY TOWNSEND | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2007

Updated: 10/17/2007 09:55 pm

News Release/Search Warrant | Photos

LAKELAND - Shawn Keiffer Newberry bought his first Kalashnikov-style semiautomatic rifles from Vets Army Navy surplus on consecutive January days this year, shortly after he turned 18.

Newberry paid for the $575 and $555 rifles with a wad of cash. That seemed odd to the store's owner, Michael Dunn, but other than that, Newberry seemed little different from anyone else with an interest in collecting the iconic weapon. It was completely legal.

It was Oct. 3 before Newberry's behavior, and a small arsenal he'd collected by that time, truly hit a nerve. That's when he walked into a Lakeland charter school where he recently had enrolled - wearing body armor, authorities say.

Even as Newberry sits in Polk County Jail, with his bail set at $605,000, uncertainty remains. What, if anything, did Newberry plan to do with the weapons he accumulated? How did the pizza deliveryman pay for them? Was anyone else involved?

Newberry's father says his son is not a threat.

"The truth is Shawn is the most gentle person you'll ever meet in the world," said Jessie Newberry Jr. "He's never picked a fight with anybody. He would not hurt a flea."

Lakeland Police Department Officer Jennifer Mullins, however, in applying on Oct. 10 for a search warrant for Newberry's home, wrote that she "believes that Newberry is training and arming himself for some future illegal event in conjunction and conspiracy with other like-minded persons."

Police were looking for evidence of "communications and plans" at Newberry's home at 2108 Selkirk Lane. They didn't say whether they found anything to indicate a plan was in motion.

"This is a classic case of personal rights versus public safety," said Sgt. Terri Smith of the Lakeland Police Department. "Did we step in and avert a disaster? We may never know."

New Student With Alarming Vest

Newberry's visits to Vets continued, and one day he bought a bullet-resistant vest. Owner Dunn said one of his regular police customers was in the store at the time and asked Newberry what he needed with body armor.

"He didn't really have an answer," Dunn said.

That seemed fishy. It's not illegal to buy body armor; nonetheless, Dunn notified the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of Newberry's behavior, he said.

Local agencies also began to notice Newberry, who had not been enrolled in public school since sixth grade. Several investigations and a concealed-weapon arrest ensued. Dunn told Newberry he no longer would sell him firearms.

By that time, Newberry had purchased body armor, a Taser, three Kalashnikovs, a shotgun, Clear Out grenades with tubes for under-door deployment, a tactical helmet, a gas mask and about 2,000 rounds of ammunition from Vets, which is on North Florida Avenue, police said.

The latest investigation into Newberry started Oct. 3, after he wore a bullet-resistant vest to the Life Skills Center, a charter school where he had been a student for a few days, police and school officials say.

The school's administrator, Curtis Thomas, said Wednesday that Newberry did not threaten anyone at the school or otherwise cause a disruption. When school officials realized he was wearing the body armor, a Lakeland police officer on contract with the school began to question him.

'He Had His Reasons'

Asked why he had the vest, Newberry answered that "he has his reasons," according to the search warrant affidavit, but he would not specify.

That investigation led to Newberry's car, where police found a can of Clear Out, a nonlethal spray used to temporarily incapacitate a person by causing eye and skin irritations.

When questioned further at the school, Newberry spoke to police about tactical methods of defeating body armor and said he trains every weekend, using at least 1,000 rounds, police said.

The Lakeland police officer interviewing Newberry "felt that it was very unusual that Newberry … would talk of killing people in such a calculated way, especially with three police officers present," the affidavit states.

Newberry was arrested on the school weapon charge, related to the spray, two days later on Oct. 5. He was released the next day. Thomas said Newberry has been expelled from the school.

Newberry's stepfather, Mark McNeill, has turned firearms belonging to Newberry over to the Lakeland Police Department for safekeeping, police said.

McNeill told police that Newberry's mother died in February and that Newberry was having a hard time dealing with it.

The Life Skills Center, at 407 E. Memorial Blvd., inside a former drugstore, is part of a national chain that serves students who have dropped out of traditional schools or are at risk of dropping out. Students work at their own pace with a Web-based curriculum to earn high school diplomas. Life Skills Center contracts with White Hat Management LLC of Ohio, a for-profit business.

The search warrant affidavit states that Newberry had been attending the school for five days. Thomas said he had not had problems with discipline.

The affidavit also shows that Lakeland police and the Polk sheriff's office both produced two reports related to Newberry from February through May of this year.

The Lakeland incidents involve theft cases in which Newberry was a victim or witness. Reports note the weaponry accumulated by Newberry and state that his stepfather turned much of it over to police for safekeeping.

News Channel 8 reporter Jennifer Leigh contributed to the story. Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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