LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Las Vegas teenager arrested last week with an unloaded assault rifle at a Las Vegas high school is being linked with another local teen who federal authorities say proclaimed himself a militia leader, stockpiled guns and explosives and talked about staging a mass casualty attack.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that investigators believe 18-year-olds Jake Howell and Steven Matthew Fernandes are friends and former students at Northwest Career and Technical Academy.

That's the campus where police say Howell was arrested Dec. 21 with the gun in his vehicle.

Clark County School District police say Howell had ammunition, but made no threats and caused no disturbance before his arrest on possessing a dangerous weapon on school property charges.

Fernandes has been in federal custody since his arrest in September.

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