Advertisement

Father at squalid New Mexico compound was training kids to be school shooters, say prosecutors

The accusations against Siraj Ibn Wahhaj came as authorities tried to identify human remains found on the compound where he lived with 11 hungry children

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, centre, confers with one of his lawyers at a first appearance in New Mexico district court in Taos, New Mexico, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

A father arrested at a ramshackle New Mexico compound where 11 hungry children were found living in filth was training youngsters to commit school shootings, prosecutors said in court documents obtained Wednesday.

Advertisement

The allegations against Siraj Ibn Wahhaj came to light as authorities awaited word on whether human remains discovered at the site were those of his missing son, who is severely disabled and went missing in December in Jonesboro, Georgia, near Atlanta.

The documents say Wahhaj was conducting weapons training with assault rifles at the compound on the outskirts of Amalia, a tiny town near the Colorado border marked by scattered homes and sagebrush.

“He poses a great danger to the children found on the property as well as a threat to the community as a whole due to the presence of firearms and his intent to use these firearms in a violent and illegal manner,” Prosecutor Timothy Hasson wrote in the court documents Wednesday.

A handout photo made available by Taos County Sheriff’s Office shows an aerial photo of compound in rural Amalia, New Mexico, where law enforcement officers found 11 children, aged 1 to 15 living in squalid conditions. Photo: EPA
A handout photo made available by Taos County Sheriff’s Office shows an aerial photo of compound in rural Amalia, New Mexico, where law enforcement officers found 11 children, aged 1 to 15 living in squalid conditions. Photo: EPA
Advertisement
loading
Advertisement