RIVERTON, Kan. – Police arrested five teenage boys April 20 for plotting a Columbine-type shooting at Riverton High School. The arrests occurred only hours before the shooting was scheduled to begin.
Authorities and school administrators discovered the plot April 18 after reading a warning that was posted on MySpace.com. According to the police, the attack was going to start between noon and 1 p.m. on April 20, which was Adolf Hitler’s birthday and the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine massacre in Colorado. Twelve students and one teacher were targeted.
Guns, ammunition and coded messages were found in one of the suspect’s bedrooms. Two suspects’ lockers contained firearm information and references to Armageddon. The teenagers arrested range in age from 16 to 18, and police are asking prosecutors to charge them with conspiracy to commit murder.
One of the boys arrested was described by classmates to ABC’s “Good Morning America” as an oddball or class clown who was often in trouble with teachers.
According to officials, the suspects had been planning the shooting since the beginning of the school year.
