Children found at filthy compound 'were being trained for school shootings'
Eleven children found living in filthy conditions on a compound in rural New Mexico, US, were being trained to commit school shootings, a court has heard.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was arrested last week after it’s alleged he abducted his three-year-old son in November, 2017.
Wahhaj, 39, was arrested, along with Lucas Morton and three women, after police received a message believed to be from inside a makeshift compound near the New Mexico-Colorado border.
Eleven children aged one to 15 were removed from the compound.
Documents filed in court on Wednesday claim Wahhaj was conducting weapons training at the compound, and prosecutors allege he was training children to commit school shootings.
The 39-year-old was also found with an AR-15 and multiple firearms.
He faces a number of charges – a warrant from Georgia seeks the extradition of Wahhaj to face a charge of abducting his three-year-old son, Abdul-ghani Wahhaj, from the state in December, 2017.
The boy was not among the 11 children found on the property.
At an arraignment on Wednesday, Wahhaj and his four co-defendants, Morton and three women presumed to be the mothers of the 11 surviving children, each pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of felony child abuse.
Morton was also charged with harbouring a fugitive.
‘Filthy trailer and a box of rice’
The compound was made up of a trailer, which was found buried and covered in plastic. It had no running water, plumbing or electricity.
The compound is located in an isolated high-desert area in the small community of Amalia, 233 kilometres northeast of Albuquerque.
Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said the children and adults found there resembled “third world country refugees” and were wearing no shoes and “dirty rags”.
“The only food we saw were a few potatoes and a box of rice in the filthy trailer,” Sheriff Hogrefe told KOAT 7.
Camping and exorcisms
It’s alleged by the mother of Abdul-ghani that his father wanted to perform an exorcism on him.
The woman told police in 2017, while filing a missing child report, her son suffers from seizures and is unable to walk.
She also alleged Wahhaj wanted to perform an exorcism on his son because he believed Abdul-ghani was possessed by the devil.
The mum said Wahhaj took their son for a trip to the park but never returned.
On December 13, Georgia police said Wahhaj was travelling with seven kids and another adult when their car overturned. He told police they were travelling to New Mexico to go camping.
But a report written by the attending officer claims he found no camping equipment in or near the vehicle but that Wahhaj was in possession of three handguns, two rifles, a bag of ammunition, and a bulletproof vest.
Wahhaj told the officer that he owned the guns legally and had a Georgia permit to carry concealed weapons.
“Mr Wahhaj seemed to be very concerned about his weapons and stated several times that they were his property and that he owned them legally,” the report read.
Abdul-ghani is yet to be found but Sheriff Hogrefe said authorities have reason to believe the boy was at the compound several weeks ago.
The remains of a child have been found on the property but they are yet to be identified.
With Associated Press and Reuters
