A 15-year-old boy remained in a psychiatric facility Tuesday after Monroe, New York, police arrested him in connection with a plot to attack his former high school on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, police said.
He was charged as a juvenile and faces two felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon, Monroe Police Chief Dominic Giudice said. Police withheld the name of the teen, who was arrested Monday after police executed a search warrant at his residence. There they found four bottles filled with gasoline, a torch, machete, black trench coat, three propane tanks, two computers, items that could be used as fuses and several other electronic devices, according to a Monroe Police Department press release issued Tuesday. The supplies were found in the garage, Giudice said, but the teen’s parents had been unaware of their son’s intentions until he told police what he had planned to do. Police also discovered the teen had actively been seeking a military assault-type weapon that could “hold as many rounds as possible.” The boy told police investigators he had been bullied by fellow students and had been told that he resembled Columbine shooter Eric Harris, the press release said. A detective on the case told Giudice that the teen appeared to be composed during the interview, as if he were just having another conversation. Police said the plot was planned for April 20 at Monroe-Woodbury High School, which is the anniversary of the Columbine shooting in Colorado, in which 12 students and a teacher were killed. The date also is Adolf Hitler’s birthday. “He said that he had a lot of hatred toward a lot of the kids who attend that school,” the press release said. The boy had attended the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District but recently began attending another school, police said. In a statement released by the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District today, superintendent Joseph DiLorenzo indicated that students had come forward with information that may have averted the alleged plot. “We are working closely with law enforcement to do everything possible to keep our children safe,” he said.
