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It’s alleged he took two rifles to the school and used one to shoot three rounds from inside a parked car, two of which penetrated a demountable classroom building with staff and students inside.
The incident forced the school into lockdown as students and teachers hid in a storeroom.
The boy faced Perth Children’s Court on Wednesday via video link after undergoing a psychiatric assessment in custody earlier in the day.
A consultant psychiatrist told the court she did not believe the teenager was at high risk of harming himself or others and his mental health needs could be met in the community.
Prosecutor Brad Hollingsworth said the state firmly opposed bail, describing the accusations as extremely serious.
He said the boy had spoken before the incident about school shootings in the United States and warned one friend not to attend school “for the next couple of days”.
He allegedly told another friend he was going to “shoot up the school”.
The former pupil’s enrolment had been cancelled by his mother days before the incident because of a lack of previous attendance, Hollingsworth said.
On the day of the shooting, it’s alleged he asked two friends which classes they would be in and sent a photo of himself on Snapchat with a caption alluding to “something sinister”.
“On the morning of this all happening, he knew he was going to do something sinister at this school,” Hollingsworth said.
During a triple-zero call he allegedly made after the shooting, the teenager said, “I was going to kill people and then myself”, Hollingsworth said.
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The boy had missed a lot of school and was feeling “somewhat hopeless” about his future prospects but there was no evidence he had been the victim of serious bullying, the prosecutor added.
His “calm, cool” demeanour on the call was particularly concerning and heightened concerns about the potential risk to the community, Hollingsworth said.
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet,” he said.
“We can’t rule out that he won’t try something like this again.”
The teenager’s lawyer noted the teenager had no criminal record, had already spent seven nights in custody at the troubled Banksia Hill detention centre and was dealing with significant mental health issues.
She suggested the boy’s family would be able to supervise him at their rural home.
But magistrate Alana Padmanabham instead ordered the teenager be bailed into a hostel where he would receive constant supervision.
She imposed what she described as “very onerous” conditions, including a 24-hour curfew.
The boy will return to court on July 12, where prosecutors have flagged he is likely to face upgraded charges including endangering the life, health or safety of others.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
