Authorities said they stopped a Frederick County, Md., teenager after her parents reported that she was planning violence at her high school.
The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said the 18-year-old student is being treated at a hospital but faces charges upon her release. Officials did not say why she was hospitalized.
Because she had not been charged Monday afternoon, The Washington Post is not using her name.
Officials said they believe the threat was serious and that the teen was “actively acquiring materials needed to execute” violence at Catoctin High School. Authorities said they found a shotgun, ammunition and bomb-making materials that included pipes, shrapnel, fuse material and fireworks at the teen’s home.
Also found were detailed plans in a journal for carrying out a shooting on a specific date in April, officials said. They did not reveal the date.
Based on the journal, authorities said, the teen had been “planning this event for some time and compiling intelligence on behavior activities.” She had notes on the school’s emergency procedures involving security and drills, along with “intelligence” on security personnel who are assigned to the school, according to the county sheriff’s office.
Her journal also included a timeline of “how she was going to execute the plot,” as well as her “expectations at each stage of the event,” authorities said.
Maj. Tim Clarke, a spokesman with the sheriff’s office, said the teen’s parents reported concerns Thursday about their daughter’s threat to school officials, and law enforcement became involved. The student was removed from a classroom at the school that day and taken to a hospital.
Clark said officials believe the teen was “acquiring items to go through with the threat.” No weapons or explosive devices were ever brought to the school, officials said. He said that officials are “confident that the safety” at the school is “fine based on an investigation.”
“This potentially could have been a serious incident,” Clark said. In a statement, officials said the student had plans and equipment that would have “caused a significant life safety event” if she had “followed through with the threat.”
Officials said they believe the teenager had made the plans alone and that no one else was involved.
The teen could be charged with possession of incendiary material and explosive material with the intent to create a destructive device, according to law enforcement officials.
In their statement, authorities also praised the teen’s parents for letting people know of the potential threat and said they are being cooperative in the investigation.
“They absolutely did the right thing,” the statement said.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post ยท Dana Hedgpeth
