Recent Incidents of Thwarted School Violence

April 24, 2006 — -- According to National School Safety and Security Services, the following school violence plots were uncovered and prevented since March 1:

March 1, 2006: Muscatine, Iowa
A 17-year-old male former high school student was arrested in connection with a plot of a Columbine-type school massacre, which he allegedly shared online with a 19-year-old female. Police reportedly found crude explosives at his home.

March 2, 2006: Greenwood, Ind.

Four high school students were arrested for allegedly plotting to harm or hold hostage the high school's principal. Students who overheard the suspects talking about bringing guns into the school notified school administrators, and police were called to investigate.

March 20, 2006: Rochester Hills, Mich.
An 18-year-old male high school student was arrested and charged with writing a threat on a bathroom wall to bring a gun to school and start a massacre he called "Columbine Part Two."

March 24, 2006: Foley, Ala.
Two male high school students, ages 15 and 16, were arrested and charged with planning to carry out a shooting plot at their high school on the seventh anniversary of the Columbine High School attack on April 20.

April 5, 2006: Atco, N.J.

Four teenagers, ages 14 to 16, were arrested and charged in connection with a plot to kill 25 people in their high school lunchroom on the anniversary of the Columbine attack. Students reported the information to school administrators, who notified police.

April 7, 2006: Pierce County, Wash.
Three male middle school students, ages 12, 13 and 14, were arrested in connection with a plot where they allegedly planned to steal guns, force their school into a lockdown, set fire to the school, and kill an administrator, group of teachers, and "preppy" students. They then allegedly planned to blend in with the other students to escape the building and avoid police, with a backup plan involving stealing a teacher's car to get away. Police are seeking a 14-year-old female who may also have been involved in the plot.

April 17, 2006: Platte City, Mo.

Two male students, both 18, were arrested in connection with a school shooting plot targeting an assistant principal, students, and other faculty members. The principal reported the incident after the suspects allegedly told other students about their plan, which included planting explosives and bringing weapons to the school on the seventh anniversary of the Columbine shootings.

April 20, 2006: Riverton, Kan.

Five male high school students, ages 16 to 18, were arrested in connection with a plot to disable the school's camera system and commit a shooting rampage between noon and 1 p.m. on April 20, the seventh anniversary of Columbine. A threat related to the alleged plot was discovered on Myspace.com, and a North Carolina woman who chatted with a suspect online notified police in her state, who contacted the sheriff in the suspects' county. Police reportedly found guns, ammunition, knives and coded messages in the bedroom of one suspect, and papers about firearms and Armageddon in two students' lockers.

April 22, 2006: North Pole, Alaska

Six students were arrested in connection with an alleged plot by a group of seventh-graders to shut off power and phone service at their school, and kill students and faculty members with guns and knives before escaping their small town of about 1,600 people. A parent reportedly notified police of the planned attack.