Harrisonburg — Residents flocked to the Catahoula Parish Courthouse Thursday to see the Harrisonburg student who police say made a plan to kill his fellow classmates.

Cameron Kaeon Smith, 18, a former student at Harrisonburg High School, appeared before Judge Kathy Johnson Thursday afternoon for a bond reduction hearing.

Johnson set a $500,000 bond for Smith, who has been incarcerated in the Catahoula Parish Jail since his arrest on a charge of terrorism.

Catahoula Parish Sheriff Toney Edwards said students reported that Smith was talking about killing two other seniors in his class as well as a possible terror threat to the school in early March.

After finding social media posts and photos that corroborated the student’s reports and speaking with administrators and teachers at the high school, deputies arrested Smith on March 15 on a charge of terrorism.

Edwards would not release further details on the context of the posts and conversations Smith allegedly had with other students, saying he did not want to endanger any potential trial.

More than 40 people filed into the courtroom Thursday — some were family and friends of Smith and others said they had come to support the school and to see the results of the hearing.

The crowd quieted when Smith entered the room. Smith — a long, thin young man at 6 feet 2-inches tall and only 169 pounds — made eye contact with his mother briefly before staring downward and sitting in the front row.

“It’s scary,” Alma Womack said.

“It’s scary for the children. I have children who go to school here, and I just need to know what happens.”

Though Womack said her daughter had notified her of the hearing, many Harrisonburg school parents came to the courtroom at the beckoning of LeAnn Crawford, whose son was one of the two students Smith allegedly named in his threats.

Crawford sent out a mass text late Wednesday evening notifying parents in the school district of the court hearing Thursday.

“I want to be clear,” Crawford said. “I don’t want this child locked up forever.  I don’t want him to waste his life. I just want him to get the help he needs.”

While setting Smith’s bond, Johnson mandated that the teen be psychologically evaluated again. He was previously evaluated on March 27 at Caring Choices in Pineville, La.

Smith’s attorney, Derrick Carson, filed a motion to reduce his bond, saying the case against Smith was weak. He had no prior criminal history.

Carson also objected to the mandated psychological evaluation on the grounds that it infringed on Smith’s Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate.

“There were several things … that could have been done in a better light,” Carson said in the courtroom. “To make sure the record is clear, we do object to (the mental evaluation). Things could have been done in a better, different manner.”

Johnson said she wanted Smith evaluated to determine the validity of the threats he made to classmates and to the school, and that a second psychologist would come to interview Smith next week.

“I’m not saying I won’t reduce his bond,” Johnson said. “But I’m not going to reduce his bond at this point.”

After considering the second evaluation, Johnson said her position could change and the bond could be reduced.

Even in the case that she does reduce Smith’s bond to a level the family can afford, Johnson said she does not want to release Smith back to Harrisonburg.

“He lives so close to the school,” Johnson said. “I’m not saying he would do anything, but if he wanted to … A lot of this depends on what the psychiatrist says.”

Louisiana Assistant Attorney General Frank Brindisi — who took over the prosecution of Smith’s case after Catahoula Parish District Attorney Brad Burget recused himself because Smith’s mother works in his office — said he had no quarrel with Johnson’s decision.

Many of Smith’s family members attended Thursday’s hearing but declined to comment.

Jamie Crum, the father of one of the students Smith reportedly threatened, said he, too, does not want Smith to be incarcerated for the rest of his life.

“In this situation, you worry about your kid,” Crum said.

“If they let him out and something happens that could have been prevented … I don’t want him to be in jail forever. I just want him to get help.”