Man Pleads No Contest In RSU Shooting Plot

By Ashli Sims, The News On 6

CLAREMORE, OK -- A former Rogers State University student has pleaded no contest to charges in connection with the plot of a campus shooting.

Tywone Parks could face up to 10 years in jail after pleading no contest to a felony count of planning an act of violence and a misdemeanor count of outraging public decency.

Small, secluded RSU wasn't a typical site for a mass shooting plot. At first, Parks didn't seem to fit the classic profile.   

"I mean, he got along with everyone," student Josh Glazebrook said. "All the girls loved him. I've honestly never heard anything bad about him."

But it didn't take long for the disturbing details about Parks to rise to the surface. His MySpace page featured pictures of him with a gun, and the incident that led police to Parks' door in the first place.

His neighbor at the Deer Run Apartments claimed Parks put a severed dog's head on her door step.

When police went to talk to him, they say the writing was literally on the wall -- threats to decapitate a young woman and put her head in the freezer.

During his preliminary hearing, there were more chilling journal entries. Investigators say Parks described the kidnapping and sexual torture of a 12-year-old.

Parks' attorney tried to argue his client was only guilty of having a vivid imagination.

"I think there are more disturbing things on television, the movies and on the Internet," defense attorney Jack Zanerhaft said. "People have imagination. People are creative. People say things or write things never intending to make them into a reality."

Prosecutors say Parks pleaded without a deal and they will urge the judge to give him near the maximum sentence, which is 10 years for the felony count. A judge will decide his sentence in May.

5/8/2008 Related story: Student In Court On Charges Of Planning Massacre