IRVINE, Calif., July 31 (UPI) -- A University of California, Irvine, professor set several fires and plotted to kill staff and students at his late son's school, prosecutors alleged Tuesday.
Rainer Klaus Reinscheid, 48, of Irvine was arrested July 24 for fires set recently at University High School and elsewhere. Orange County prosecutors said authorities found e-mails on his cellphone after the arrest, in which he allegedly detailed how he intended to burn down the school, "commit sexual assaults, purchase firearms, and murder school officials and students, and then kill himself."
Reinscheid posted bail the day he was arrested, but was arrested again July 27. Prosecutors said they want him held without bond, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"We believe he's dangerous, and we believe he's a risk to public safety," said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
Officials say Reinscheid's 14-year-old son had been a student at the high school but had committed suicide after being disciplined by school officials in March, the newspaper said.
Reinscheid is an associate professor in UC Irvine's departments of pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacology and molecular biology and biochemistry for a dozen years.
KABC-TV, Los Angeles, reported he is accused of starting three fires at the high school, along with another at a park where his son killed himself and one at the home of a school administrator.
He is charged with five counts of arson, one count of attempted arson, and a misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing a police officer, the TV station said.
