TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Weapons Video That Led To Lakeland Student's Charges Doesn't Unveil A Plot

Office of the State Attorney 10th Judicial Circuit

The state attorney's office in Polk County on Tuesday released home video of Shawn Newberry firing automatic weapons with friends.

ADVERTISEMENT

By BILLY TOWNSEND | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2007

WFLA Josh Thomas Report | Watch The Raw Video

LAKELAND - Video clips that are the source of some of the charges against 18-year-old Shawn Newberry do little to answer the key question surrounding the 18-year-old gun enthusiast: Was the collection of weaponry and body armor he amassed through much of 2007 part of a destructive plot?

Newberry alarmed police when he showed up at Lakeland's Life Skills Center charter school Oct. 3 wearing a bullet resistant vest. He was arrested, released and arrested again after police searched his home.

In applying on Oct. 10 for the search warrant, Lakeland police Detective Jennifer Mullins wrote that she thought "Newberry is training and arming himself for some future illegal event in conjunction and conspiracy with other like-minded persons."

The videotape found during the search shows Newberry and friends shooting AK-47-style weapons at a newspaper box on a piece of property near Winter Haven and detonating some type of small explosive device. The video indicated it was shot Jan. 19 and 20.

Newberry was arrested Oct. 15 on charges of criminal mischief, grand theft and armed trespassing, each of which stemmed from the images on the video, which was publicly released today.

Most of the tape shows Newberry and others carrying out various pranks and petty vandalism. At one point, someone in the video shoots another young man with a stun gun, with the victim's permission.

There is no indication of the people in the video planning anything, and there are no threats made against anyone.

No one except Newberry has been arrested. He remains in the Polk County Jail on $615,000 bail.

His public defender, Amy Thornhill, was not available for comment today and was not in her office.

Newberry's father, Jessie Newberry Jr., has said his son has no ill intentions.

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

Newberry, according to police and a Lakeland gun shop owner, began to buy weaponry after he turned 18 in early 2007. He purchased body armor, a stun gun, three AK-47-style rifles, a shotgun, Clear Out grenades with tubes for under-door deployment, a tactical helmet, a gas mask and about 2,000 rounds of ammunition.

All of this was purchased legally, though the gun shop owner eventually became suspicious and stopped selling Newberry firearms. 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 before the incident at the school.

Newberry is scheduled for arraignment Nov. 15.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT