Desertdog
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Columbine copycats
Boys plotted to hit Saint John High, police say
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=e1cb2caa-7ffa-4863-aa59-3ada842d84bc
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - Three teenage boys have been arrested for allegedly conspiring to seize control of a school and methodically murder some of its students and teachers.
Police found gunpowder and other material used for making pipe bombs at the boys' homes and believe the youths had practised making bombs.
The boys, aged 15 to 17, were Saint John air cadets and their alleged plot was planned for April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre where 12 students and a teacher were killed.
At a Saint John bail hearing for the two eldest teenagers on Wednesday, police Constable Rick Russell said the boys were plotting a "planned takeover" of Saint John High where one of the boys is a pupil. The other two are from Harbourview High.
He said the boys had been practising making bombs for some time, and were planning to attack the school's administration offices with explosives, where they intended to kill the principal and other officials with bombs and guns. He said the boys then planned to order a list of "hated" students into the offices, one by one, to be executed.
Const. Russell said police had found writing by the boys naming the people they planned to kill.
He said the 17-year-old had also written: "I hate my life ... I hate everyone."
The alleged conspiracy was uncovered last Friday by fellow cadets in a conversation overheard during a March Break trip to Quebec City.
A separate incident involving the same three boys on the Quebec visit is also being investigated by military police, a cadet spokeswoman said yesterday.
After returning to Saint John High School on Monday, two students reported to principal Barry Harbinson what they had learned in Quebec. An emergency staff meeting was called, and within half an hour the three boys had been arrested.
Although no weapons were found at either school, Saint John police did find gunpowder and other material used for making pipe bombs at the boys' homes.
The teenagers cannot be named under Canada's young offender law.
They have each been charged with possessing explosives, placed under house arrest, and suspended from both the cadets and their schools.
Although there are rumours that school bullying is the cause of the boys' anger, it is not yet clear if bullying is a factor in the case.
Officials at the two high schools spent yesterday trying to calm students and parents who learned of the alleged plot this week.
"It's been a very difficult week and has caused me a great deal of concern," Saint John schools superintendent Susan Tipper said in an interview yesterday. "I find it very disheartening and upsetting that any young person today would be so discontent with their own lives, or the world around them, that they would consider something like this."
At Saint John and Harbourview high schools, counsellors were made available to students yesterday. Officials were also busy telephoning parents explaining the week's events and insisting the schools were safe.
Students were also assembled yesterday morning at each school and told if any had more information about the alleged conspiracy, they should give it to police.
"Although there were preliminary plans for an attack at Saint John High School neither you, the staff, or the building were in any immediate danger," Mr. Harbinson told his students at the morning assembly.
He also praised the students who had come forward with what they'd learned on the air cadet trip, rather than keeping it secret.
"Thanks to those who chose not to abide by conventional attitudes this conspiracy was discovered and a potential threat to you -- the rest of the students and the staff -- has been revealed," Mr. Harbinson said.
Saint John High, the oldest public high school in Canada, is one of four publicly funded high schools in the city. On its Web site yesterday, a monitored student discussion forum was filled with chatter about the incident.
Some students said they were angry that officials did not evacuate the school after learning about the alleged conspiracy on Monday.
Others claimed at least one of the arrested teenagers was obsessed with Hitler and Satan.
Said another student, writing on the school Web site: "I don't think the schools in this part of the country are prepared for something this serious. It seems kinda unbelievable that something like that could happen at our school -- pretty scary -- like schools in Toronto and down in the States and in big cities that all have metal detectors and stuff at the door.
"The way things are now, I can see it happening here in the near future."
Two California teenagers were charged this week with plotting to kill teachers and students at their Catholic high school. Investigators said the boys, aged 15 and 16, had shopped for shotguns and prepared a map with places to plant bombs at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, about 30 kilometres south of Los Angeles.
But one of the youths apparently got cold feet and confided in a counsellor at the school.
On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of Littleton, Colo., shot and killed 12 Columbine High School students and a teacher, before committing suicide. Both were seniors at the school and had originally planned to murder hundreds of their peers when they roamed the school's halls with guns, knives and a multitude of bombs.
According to journals, notes and videos discovered later, both Klebold, 17, and Harris, 18, had planned the massacre well in advance and had drawn up a hit list of potential victims.
Boys plotted to hit Saint John High, police say
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=e1cb2caa-7ffa-4863-aa59-3ada842d84bc
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - Three teenage boys have been arrested for allegedly conspiring to seize control of a school and methodically murder some of its students and teachers.
Police found gunpowder and other material used for making pipe bombs at the boys' homes and believe the youths had practised making bombs.
The boys, aged 15 to 17, were Saint John air cadets and their alleged plot was planned for April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre where 12 students and a teacher were killed.
At a Saint John bail hearing for the two eldest teenagers on Wednesday, police Constable Rick Russell said the boys were plotting a "planned takeover" of Saint John High where one of the boys is a pupil. The other two are from Harbourview High.
He said the boys had been practising making bombs for some time, and were planning to attack the school's administration offices with explosives, where they intended to kill the principal and other officials with bombs and guns. He said the boys then planned to order a list of "hated" students into the offices, one by one, to be executed.
Const. Russell said police had found writing by the boys naming the people they planned to kill.
He said the 17-year-old had also written: "I hate my life ... I hate everyone."
The alleged conspiracy was uncovered last Friday by fellow cadets in a conversation overheard during a March Break trip to Quebec City.
A separate incident involving the same three boys on the Quebec visit is also being investigated by military police, a cadet spokeswoman said yesterday.
After returning to Saint John High School on Monday, two students reported to principal Barry Harbinson what they had learned in Quebec. An emergency staff meeting was called, and within half an hour the three boys had been arrested.
Although no weapons were found at either school, Saint John police did find gunpowder and other material used for making pipe bombs at the boys' homes.
The teenagers cannot be named under Canada's young offender law.
They have each been charged with possessing explosives, placed under house arrest, and suspended from both the cadets and their schools.
Although there are rumours that school bullying is the cause of the boys' anger, it is not yet clear if bullying is a factor in the case.
Officials at the two high schools spent yesterday trying to calm students and parents who learned of the alleged plot this week.
"It's been a very difficult week and has caused me a great deal of concern," Saint John schools superintendent Susan Tipper said in an interview yesterday. "I find it very disheartening and upsetting that any young person today would be so discontent with their own lives, or the world around them, that they would consider something like this."
At Saint John and Harbourview high schools, counsellors were made available to students yesterday. Officials were also busy telephoning parents explaining the week's events and insisting the schools were safe.
Students were also assembled yesterday morning at each school and told if any had more information about the alleged conspiracy, they should give it to police.
"Although there were preliminary plans for an attack at Saint John High School neither you, the staff, or the building were in any immediate danger," Mr. Harbinson told his students at the morning assembly.
He also praised the students who had come forward with what they'd learned on the air cadet trip, rather than keeping it secret.
"Thanks to those who chose not to abide by conventional attitudes this conspiracy was discovered and a potential threat to you -- the rest of the students and the staff -- has been revealed," Mr. Harbinson said.
Saint John High, the oldest public high school in Canada, is one of four publicly funded high schools in the city. On its Web site yesterday, a monitored student discussion forum was filled with chatter about the incident.
Some students said they were angry that officials did not evacuate the school after learning about the alleged conspiracy on Monday.
Others claimed at least one of the arrested teenagers was obsessed with Hitler and Satan.
Said another student, writing on the school Web site: "I don't think the schools in this part of the country are prepared for something this serious. It seems kinda unbelievable that something like that could happen at our school -- pretty scary -- like schools in Toronto and down in the States and in big cities that all have metal detectors and stuff at the door.
"The way things are now, I can see it happening here in the near future."
Two California teenagers were charged this week with plotting to kill teachers and students at their Catholic high school. Investigators said the boys, aged 15 and 16, had shopped for shotguns and prepared a map with places to plant bombs at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, about 30 kilometres south of Los Angeles.
But one of the youths apparently got cold feet and confided in a counsellor at the school.
On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of Littleton, Colo., shot and killed 12 Columbine High School students and a teacher, before committing suicide. Both were seniors at the school and had originally planned to murder hundreds of their peers when they roamed the school's halls with guns, knives and a multitude of bombs.
According to journals, notes and videos discovered later, both Klebold, 17, and Harris, 18, had planned the massacre well in advance and had drawn up a hit list of potential victims.
I don't think Cadet Numbnuts and Doofus thought this one through all the way. 