Police foil Columbine-style killing spree

13 April 2012

Police foiled a plot by two students to go on a killing spree in their school today.

The 15-year-olds planned to rob gun shops in Sacramento, California, and murder fellow students in a repeat of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

It is thought they had targeted black pupils and would also use explosives.
Officers were able to thwart the attack - planned for lunchtime today - after a tip-off from a student who overheard the plot.

The unnamed duo, from Laguna Creek High School in Elk Grove, California, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, making terrorist threats and hate crime charges.

Their homes were searched and a .22-calibre rifle owned by one of their parents was impounded.

Officers also found Nazi-style drawings and a map of the school cafeteria.
One of the students was arrested on Monday and the second on Tuesday. Four other students were questioned in connection with the plot but were not arrested.

Sergeant Lou Fatur, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, said: "These kids had some major hate toward a lot of different groups. There is definitely a racial component."

He told the San Francisco Chronicle that one student, a black girl, had been specifically targeted.

"When one is a target, many can be a target. These kids are pretty disturbing," Sgt Fatur said.

The ringleader recently moved to California from Arizona.

He added: "He is very disturbed. He brought a lot of hate from where he came from. He was the main player in this thing."

David Gordon, superintendent of the Elk Grove Unified School District, said the plot had been discussed by as many as six pupils.

"We're confident that we've got this group rounded up. It's five or six kids who went sideways. We believe the school is safe," he said.

Extra police and security officers were patrolling the school grounds today.
Parents were informed of the shocking plot by letter.

The fear of guns in schools in America came to a head on April 20, 1999, when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris massacred 12 pupils and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado.

Authorities there were criticised for not picking up on the boys behaviour in the weeks leading up to their killing spree.

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