A Florida teen who admired the perpetrators of the Columbine shooting and claimed that he would "become a god" by carrying out his own massacre has been arrested.
The juvenile boy—who is not being named—was detained by deputies from the Lee County Sheriff's Office this week on two felony charges: sending a written threat to conduct a mass shooting and making a false report about the use of a firearm in a violent manner.
The teenager came to the sheriff office's attention on September 3 after a student notebook containing "disconcerting and non-specific violence" was discovered and reviewed by officials from the Gateway Intermediate School in Fort Myers, where the suspect was enrolled.
At that point, there was not sufficient evidence for an arrest, and after a home visit by youth services it was ruled there was "no specific and viable threat" regarding the 8th grader.
That ruling soon changed, however, following a series of meetings with a licensed therapist, who recommended random searches of the student and his belongings.
In later meetings, police said the therapist determined the teen "professed admiration for the perpetrators of the Columbine shooting, displayed a lack of empathy and other disconcerting behaviors and was deemed to be a risk to harm himself and/or others."
Around this time, the student started telling his classmates that he had attempted to obtain a teacher's personal information, including their home address. When asked about his statements, he became disruptive and had to be removed from class.
Anonymous students told the authorities that the student had made threats about "shooting up" their school and claimed to have access to a shotgun and "The Anarchist Cookbook," a book containing instructions on how to make bombs.
Investigators also found a document containing profanity-ridden threats of violence. It read: "I [expletive] hate this [expletive] school. It's pure existence pisses me off. Everybody here needs to die. [Expletive] humanity, [expletive] society, [expletive] life. Soon, I will become a god, and I will release my wrath on this [expletive] school soon." The student was detained for a mental health evaluation and then arrested upon his discharge.
"I'm so proud of the investigative work done by our Youth Services Unit and appreciative of the ongoing, daily supervision of this student," said sheriff Carmine Marceno.
"I made a commitment to do everything possible to ensure student and school safety and this incredible team helped keep that promise. As always, I am extremely grateful for the close working relationship that we maintain with our school district and with each school's administration. This great investigative work prevented a very serious situation."
In August, a 15-year-old boy was arrested in Madison County, Florida, after making "electronic threats" about a school shooting. That followed the arrest of a 13-year-old who was detained on August 7 after making reference to a school shooting during a conversation online.
