Just what we need here in NJ
NJ Police Foil Teen Gun Plot
April 5, 2006 - The criminal justice system in New Jersey is processing three teens that investigators say were plotting a Columbine-style massacre.
It happened at Winslow Township High School on Folly Road in Atco, New Jersey.
The alleged plot involved the teens threatening to shoot a large number of students. The suspects are all freshman, ages 14, 15 and 16. Investigators say these arrests headed off what could have been a Columbine-style massacre.
Brett Waller/Winslow Twp. Police: "They were planning on going into the lunchroom, around 4th period, and going to start a food fight. From the food fight, they were going to start throwing chairs. Then the ringleader, who's a 15-year-old, he was going to pull out a handgun and fire one shot to get everybody on the ground. At that point he was going to walk around and start executing people as needed."
The plot unraveled when word about the plot got out on the internet and rumors started spreading around the high school. The suspects were brought in for questioning and police say they confessed.
The teens are part of the so-called "Goth culture" and which dabbles in satanic worship and witchcraft.
The boys apparently got into a conflict with some other students, and that's when the plot was hatched. They were stymied by 2 events. First, police say the boys were trying to buy guns from underground dealers. One of the dealers took their money and never delivered the guns. Second, the other dealer was arrested on an unrelated outstanding warrant before he could supply the guns.
Police say they hate to think what might have happened if the boys had been successful.
Now the boys are facing a detention hearing in Camden and face terrorism-related charges. Investigators say the investigation continues with the possibility of more arrests to come.
(Copyright 2006 by 6abc and Action News. All rights reserved.)