A South Fayette teen has been jailed on charges he tried to kill his family by exploding homemade bombs in their beds as they slept over the weekend.

Christopher Janney, 16, is being held on $5,000 bail, pending a preliminary hearing scheduled tomorrow in Municipal Court, Downtown.

He is charged as an adult with five counts of attempted homicide and one count each of reckless endangerment and criminal conspiracy.

At least two others, including a former South Fayette student, have been implicated, according to a police affidavit.

South Fayette police were summoned around 6:45 a.m. Saturday to the Janney home on Dutch Hill Road, where the family reported the suspicious disappearance of the boy.

His mother showed police six bottles containing chlorine that police explosives experts said were built as compression bombs.

At least one bottle had been placed overnight Friday near the heads of five family members at the residence. Some had two bombs placed in their beds, the affidavit said.

That came a day after Christopher Janney had gotten into a scuffle with his grandfather, who lives next door, after the man had taken bottles of rubbing alcohol from him.

Christopher's 13-year-old brother helped his grandfather fend off the attack, the affidavit said.

Police seized a cell phone and computer from Christopher's room on Saturday. The boy's pages on the MySpace Web site and text messages on two cell phones indicated that he had communications with two other people who helped him devise the bombing plan and a getaway.

At least two of the boys had planned to flee by Greyhound bus to a destination in the southern U.S., the affidavit said.

Police also seized a gas mask, a pepper grinder and ground rat poison from the Janney residence.

South Fayette Police Chief Louis Volle said the investigation is continuing, and there may be more arrests.

So far, Christopher is the only suspect charged in the incident.

Chief Volle on Saturday contacted South Fayette School District Superintendent Dr. Linda Hippert about the investigation, because Christopher is an 11th-grader at the high school. He also is listed as a member of the school's varsity soccer team.

Dr. Hippert said Christopher had been expected to attend the school's homecoming dance Saturday night along with about 400 other students.

Because of that, police were granted permission to use bomb-sniffing dogs to scan the school property before the dance.

No explosives were found, and the dance went on as planned, Dr. Hippert said.

She said the boy was an average student, and had not been a disciplinary problem. Christopher showed no evidence or signs at school about the alleged plan or tendencies.

"It's a very unfortunate thing for the school community and for the family," Dr. Hippert said. "We're very saddened when these things occur and when a child is troubled to do something to this extent."

Letters were sent home this week with students to inform parents of the district's concern and how the situation had been handled.