Police: Oregon teenagers wrote plan to lure student to shed, cut swastika into his forehead

PORTLAND, Ore. – Authorities say four Oregon teenagers accused of shooting a fellow high school student with a BB gun and carving a swastika into his forehead had spent an evening sketching out ideas for torturing him.

According to an affidavit filed Tuesday, the Feb. 10 attack went as planned, until they released the 16-year-old boy to pull cash from an ATM. He fled to a nearby store instead and called police.

The teen told investigators he was lured to the shed by 15-year-old Jenna Montgomery. There, he said 15-year-old Blue Kalmbach shot him with a BB gun and used a box cutter to cut the swastika.

A similar attack was portrayed in the 2009 World War II movie “Inglourious Basterds.”

All five teens attend the same southeast Portland high school. On the morning of the alleged assault, Montgomery spoke with the victim there and asked to hang out after school. They walked behind a house nearby, according to the affidavit, and Montgomery led him to a shed in the backyard.

Waiting inside were Kalmbach, 17-year-old Jess Taylor and a 14-year-old boy.

“Mr. Taylor stated that he helped formulate the plan to torture (the victim),” Multnomah County assistant district attorney Chris Ramras wrote in the affidavit, “and assisted by writing down several ideas.”

Kalmbach pointed a gun – later identified as a BB gun – at the victim and told him to take off his shirt.

The victim told investigators that when he complied, Kalmbach shot him in the chest, the groin and one of his hands. Then Kalmbach used a box cutter to cut the swastika into the victim’s forehead, according to the affidavit.

Montgomery told the victim she wanted a skateboard, and the 14-year-old boy demanded money. They allowed the victim to leave, and he ran to an automotive shop, where he told employees to call police.

Authorities found the four alleged assailants in a home a half-mile from the shed.

Attorneys for Taylor, Montgomery and Kalmbach could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. It was unclear who is representing the 14-year-old boy.

The three who are 15 and older have been charged as adults. They each face about 20 counts, ranging from kidnapping to robbery and assault. The 14-year-old will be prosecuted in juvenile court per Oregon criminal law.

John Bier, principal of David Douglas High School, said Friday the alleged attackers and their victim were “only vaguely involved” with the school – one student was headed to an alternative high school, and the rest had spotty attendance records.

“They had basically chosen not to attend,” Bier said. “We were trying to reel them back in, but they were really not having it.”

He said the 3,000-student school has not experienced more students seeking counselling since the alleged attack.

Bier said investigators told him that the five teenagers were all friends at one point, but had a falling out. He said the victim initially was lured to the shed with a promise of drugs and sex.

A Portland Police Bureau report that Bier referred to was not available Friday. Authorities have not commented on a possible motive.

“It reaches a level that’s disturbing,” Bier said. “Our staff, our students are shocked. They’re appalled.”