Man Charged in Duluth School Threat

DULUTH, Minn. – A Duluth man has been formally charged with threats of violence and possession of a machine gun conversion kit following his arrest on Friday at Duluth East High School.

According to the criminal complaint, 35-year-old Travis John Anthony Warner Busch was in the cafeteria at Duluth East High School supervising an individual as part of his work duties as a job coach, when he began making a series a threats to a third party through text messages related to engaging in gun fire with law enforcement.

The third party notified law enforcement of the threats prompting law enforcement to notify the school and place East High School on hard lockdown. Other area schools were also placed on soft lockdown as precaution.

Busch was located inside of a locked cold storage room in the cafeteria by officers. Busch was taken into custody and transported to St. Luke’s Hospital where he was cleared by medical staff for release to the St. Louis County Jail.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Busch’s vehicle where they found a compact .357 pistol, which was cocked, with one round in the chamber. The hand gun was found in the trunk of the vehicle inside a boot. The gun was loaded with hollow point rounds.

According to the complaint, the threats made by Busch included:

• “I can get in with a few machine guns, kill the one officer first and go to town.”
• “If the cops come they will die through the door.”
• “There are no innocent.”

Throughout the course of the messages with the third party Busch also made reference to an individual who had been convicted of a school shooting as “my hero”.

The complaint states Busch also told the third party through text that he had made modifications to firearms that he owns, comparing the capabilities to those in the Las Vegas mass shooting.

When asked if he had any specific plans, Busch wrote “I have lots of plans.” Busch then wrote to the third party that he could padlock shut a movie theater with a lower entrance, and shoot the people inside like “fish in a barrel.”

A search warrant was executed at Busch’s residence where law enforcement located an 8mm Mauser bolt action rifle, a pump style rifle Remington 141, a Beretta handgun with one round of ammunition in the chamber and a loaded magazine, a Ruger 10/22 with a scope, a collapsible buttstock, and a banana style magazine in the firearm.

According to the complaint, there was a 022 caliber round in the barrel and the magazine was loaded. A box for a slide fire track-22 modification, believed to give the firearm fully automatic capabilities, was also found at the residence.

Investigators also located a rifle grip and trigger assembly which had a selector switch which indicated the options for semi-automatic fire and fully-automatic fire.

Busch’s next court date is scheduled for April 30.