You might think that being too supportive has no drawbacks, but one mother-and-son duo from Texas is more than willing to prove that notion wrong. That’s because the Texas mom in question supported her son’s plans to shoot up a local school— even purchasing gear and ammunition for the school shooting. Thankfully, they never got to execute their plans.
Ashley Pardo is the aforementioned mother, and the 33-year-old Texan was arrested on May 12 after she allegedly provided ammunition and other tactical gear to her son. Apparently, Pardo’s son has hinted at his plans for a mass school shooting at Rhodes Middle School in San Antonio.
Surprisingly enough, Ashley Pardo’s arrest was tipped by none other than her mother. Turns out Ashley’s son had been staying with his grandmother on occasion. At one point, the grandmother noticed that her grandson was experimenting with live bullets by hitting them with hammers.
The grandmother was shocked after learning from her grandson that he received the bullets from his mother, Ashley. Furthermore, Ashley Pardo has been taking her son to local surplus stores, even purchasing gun magazines, tactical vests, a ballistic helmet, and army surplus clothing for the boy.
The boy’s grandmother then snooped around her daughter’s house and found improvised explosive devices and numerous loaded pistols and rifle magazines in the boy’s bedroom. The grandmother then quickly alerted the police after recalling that her grandson told her that he was “going to be famous” back on May 12.
After the arrest, Ashley Pardo has since been charged with aiding in the commission of terrorism, according to the official affidavit. Meanwhile, Rhodes Middle School has assured parents that the children are safe.
“Please know we take all potential threats seriously and act immediately to protect everyone in our care. We will always remain vigilant to ensure our learning and working environment is safe and secure,” assured Rhodes Middle School Principal Felismina Martinez.
Alarming Signs From Ashley Pardo’s Son
Prior to receiving tactical gear from his mother, Ashley’s son had been exhibiting some worrying signs that would’ve eventually led to violent behavior. These signs include the following, according to the incident’s official affidavit, courtesy of ABC News:
- Blueprint drawings of the local school, with labels such as “suicide route”
- Fascination with past mass shooters
- Obsessive research about the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand
- Attempted suicides and school suspensions
- Unironic references to Nazism and white supremacy movements, including SS symbols
Ashley Pardo was no doubt aware of her son’s behavior and even encouraged it by gifting him tactical gear in exchange for babysitting his younger siblings. Thankfully, the grandmother’s better judgment has led to lives being spared and another mass shooting incident being thwarted. Some have taken to calling the grandmother a hero for preventing a Texas school shooting, while others are criticizing Ashley Pardo’s failure as a parent.
“Grandma saved lives for sure and good on law enforcement for actually doing something,” as pointed out by Redditor Fuman20000
“Literally grooming a murderer. Absolutely love how they just casually gloss over the fact this kid was a white supremacist Nazi simp POS,” says Redditor Nocturnes_echo
“I just….man. I just want to know what goes on in someone’s head like this. Just pure unnecessary evil,” according to Redditor Syric13
