Judge drops some charges against ex

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — A judge has dismissed some of the most serious charges against a former Minnesota college student who police and prosecutors feared was plotting a campus shooting.

Waylon Kurts, of Montpelier, Vermont, who was then a student at St. Olaf College in Northfield, was charged last April with conspiracy to commit second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit threats of violence, making terroristic threats, and a less serious count of conspiracy to commit theft. Prosecutors alleged he was “planning a mass casualty event.”

But Rice County Judge Christine Long this week dismissed two of the felony counts against Kurts, citing a lack of evidence that he was conspiring with anyone to commit assault or threats of violence, KARE-TV reported.

Kurts, who has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail, has maintained that he is a recreational firearms enthusiast and was just exchanging text messages on that topic with a like-minded friend.