Bomb-Plot Suspects Face Stiffer Penalties

Armed with new details of an alleged bombing plot, prosecutors filed harsher charges Thursday against two young men accused of planning to set off an explosive device at Burbank High School.

The charge of “conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public” would double any prison sentence for Patrick Longmire and Christopher Mannino, both 18, if they are convicted, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Zergojan.

Longmire and Mannino allegedly sought a second potential bomb-maker after a student they had asked to make an explosive device turned them down, said Sgt. Bill Taylor of the Burbank Police Department.

The complaint filed Thursday outlined some details of the alleged plot: The defendants reportedly cased the high school between March 1 and April 21 to find a place to hide a bomb; Mannino and Longmire discussed which type of bomb to use and decided to place it in a locked building next to Room 157, a math classroom in the school’s basement.

Longmire, a junior in special education at Burbank High, and Mannino, who attended school in Van Nuys until last June, are jailed on $1-million bonds while awaiting trial.

The police said Longmire’s alleged motive for the conspiracy was to exact revenge on those who have teased him at school. The 6-foot-3 student, a bit older than his classmates, has cerebral palsy and walks with a limp.