The 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting two people inside a Butte County Library appeared to continue displaying extremist imagery in court, where he flashed a hand gesture associated with white supremacy.
Bradley Scott Sayer appeared Thursday in a Chico, California, courtroom for his arraignment.
During the hearing, Sayer’s arms were shackled. He wore yellow long-sleeved jail clothing with gray sweatpants.
As he was brought into the courtroom, Sayer made a hand sign commonly linked to “white power.”
Sayer was arraigned on two counts of murder with special circumstances. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, though that could shift if additional charges are filed.
Officials said Sayer also appeared to reference the Columbine High School massacre during Tuesday’s attack, writing “Natural Selection” in black marker across a white T-shirt.
Police said the shirt reflected what they described as his fixation on the 1999 school shooting.
Eric Harris, one of the Columbine shooters, wore a similar shirt when he and another gunman carried out the deadly attack at their Colorado high school.
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Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said Sayer was a “fan” of the killing and ones like it.
“The suspect was a fan, and a fan for some time, of social media involving Columbine-type shootings, the school shootings, and had unfortunately a deep dive into that social media community, and obviously lost his way in that and decided yesterday to act in copycat,” Ramsey said.
Officials said Sayer first arrived at the library and did a walkthrough before he walked out to his car to retrieve a shotgun.
“He was looking for a confined, populated location to attack,” FBI agent Sid Patel said at a Tuesday news conference.
He allegedly shot first victim Jacob Hull, 46, in the leg as he was entering the library. Seeing Hull disabled from the shot, he fired at his head, killing him, officials said.
A juvenile female who was with Hull was injured. Sayer then entered the library and allegedly shot 74-year-old Robert Johnson in the head, also killing him.
Library staff heroically rushed the patrons of the building to safety, officials said, and Sayer allegedly fled the scene. Arriving law enforcement seized Sayer outside the building without any use of force, officials said.
The entire incident only lasted around four minutes from the first 911 calls to Sayer’s arrest, Chico Chief of police Billy Aldridge said. Eight rounds were fired, and the shotgun used was recovered at the scene.
Two other firearms were found in Sayer’s vehicle.
