A Maryland high school student was arrested and charged with threat of mass violence after police discovered evidence revealing the teen had plans to commit a school shooting.
His capture came after authorities discovered a 129-page document they say was written by Alex Yean 18-year-old transgender student from Rockville whose legal name is Andrea Ye, the Montgomery County Police Department said in a news release.
The authorities learned of said document after an exchange that Ye had through Instagram messages with an unidentified person, who knew Ye from inpatient treatment at a local psychiatric facility.
The witness, who contacted authorities, believed the writings indicated Ye was prepared to carry out a mass shooting imminently, according to court documents. Ye later described the document as “his memories” of him when he spoke to police.
“In the document, Ye writes about committing a school shooting and strategizes how to carry out the act. He also contemplates attacking an elementary school and says he wants to be famous“the police said.
The story focused on a transgender main character being bullied at school and other topics that witnesses believed were directly from Ye’s life and not fictional.
He wrote about wanting to shoot with an AR-15
Investigators also found Internet searches, drawings and documents “related to mass threats of violence,” according to the statement.
Police added that security had been increased at schools as a result of the investigation, particularly at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, where Ye was a student before being sent to a series of psychiatric hospitals.
According to court records, the memoir begins with a disclaimer that reads: “This is not a threat of violence nor does it represent the beliefs of the author.”
But Its content was enough to alarm the authorities. “It appears that the manifesto has fictional and nonfictional parts, and is based in reality with a plan of threats of mass violence,” officials said in court documents.
Ye allegedly wrote about wanting to shoot up his school with an AR-15, targeting the elementary school because young children are easier targets, wanting to be famous, and wanting to set the record for most murders.
He researched other school shootings online.
Their Internet searches included shooting ranges “near me” and searches about school shootings, including Sandy Hook and parkland, prosecutors said. She was also in a Discord chat group with other people focused on glorifying school shootings, according to the charging document.
Ye was hospitalized since December 2022 for threatening to “shoot up the school” and for having homicidal and suicidal ideations, according to court records. It was not clear why the young man left the following month, as it was determined that he was still concerned about school shootings, self-harm and explosives.
Ye had not been in school since fall 2022, a public school spokesperson said, but had continued his education through a remote learning program.
Keep reading:
– The FBI arrested a young man who planned attacks on churches in Idaho after pledging allegiance to ISIS.
– 18-year-old Hispanic man is arrested on suspicion of planning a school shooting in Southern California.