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US school massacre plot foiled
26/03/2006 12:02 - (SA)
Foley, Alabama - Two teenagers have been charged with conspiring to commit murder for allegedly planning an attack at their school on next month's seventh anniversary of one of the deadliest school shootings ever, the slayings at Columbine High School in Colorado.
The alleged threat to kill classmates at Gulf Shores High School was "more than the mere chatter of children," Baldwin County district attorney David Whetstone told The Mobile Register for its Saturday edition.
"This had some substance, some meat to it, some plans to it and at least one overt step toward completion."
One student, a 15-year-old, will be charged as a juvenile and his name was not released, Whetstone said.
Another student, 16-year-old Joseph Scott Meredith, will be charged as an adult. Under state law, teens 16 years or older can be treated as adults when charged with serious felonies, such as conspiracy to commit murder, Whetstone said.
The attack was planned to be carried out April 20, which is the anniversary of the Columbine killing in which two students shot and killed 12 of their classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives in 1999, Whetstone said.
Police believe only two students were involved in the alleged plot, but the investigation is ongoing.
Pascal Bruijn, the lawyer for the younger teen, has said that though his client made "inappropriate statements" that he now knows should not have been made, he is not a threat to anyone.
"My client does not now, nor did he ever, seek to harm anyone at Gulf Shores High School," Bruijn wrote in an e-mail sent to the Mobile Register.
Meredith's attorney, Mandy Herndon, said that she had "no comment at this time."
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