April 11, 2001

A Maryland man accused of sending threatening messages via the Internet to Santana High School students in the wake of a campus shooting spree waived his right yesterday to fight extradition to San Diego.

Patrick Smith, 18, of Walkersville, Md., will likely be brought to San Diego next week to face two felony charges of making terrorist threats and two misdemeanor counts of making annoying and harassing electronic communications, said Deputy District Attorney Michael Groch.

Smith was arrested March 9 at his Maryland home. That was four days after freshman Charles "Andy" Williams, 15, was arrested and accused of opening fire at Santana High School in Santee. Two students were killed and 13 other people injured in the shooting rampage.

Smith was charged with sending messages via the Internet to two 15-year-old high school students in Santee. One was a student at Santana and the other was a student at West Hills High School, also in Santee.

He was also facing charges in Maryland. But they were dropped at a brief court hearing there yesterday, and Smith then agreed to stop his extradition fight, said his Maryland attorney, William Haugh.

Authorities said one message Smith is accused of sending threatened to kill one of the students, then have sex with her. A second message said he would "finish what Andy started," Groch said.

Members of a regional high-tech crime task force traced the messages back to Smith's home computer. He lived about 20 miles from where Williams grew up, but authorities have said the two do not know each other.

Williams is facing charges of murder and attempted murder, among others. His attorneys are challenging a state law that requires him to stand trial as an adult, not a juvenile. A hearing on that challenge is scheduled for next week.