Police: School Shooting Suspects Had ‘Viable’ Plot to Massacre Others

Two teenagers suspected of plotting a “massacre” at a California school searched for information concerning automatic weapons, handguns, knives, bulletproof vests and bomb-making devices, police said Tuesday.

South Pasadena Police Chief Arthur Miller said investigators found evidence of a “viable” plot to target three school staff members and launch an indiscriminate attack on fellow students. “They just wanted to kill as many people as possible,” Miller said during a Tuesday press conference.

Investigators had been surveilling the teenagers since last Thursday, when school officials passed on a tip from an unidentified community member. Police say that while the suspects had not yet obtained weapons or scheduled an attack date, they had discussed the possibility of stealing a weapon from a relative and were “very steadfast in their conversation” about their plan of attack.

The suspects are being held in custody at Eastlake Juvenile Hall and are expected to face charges of conspiracy and criminal threat. School officials said police would ramp up patrols around South Pasadena’s schools, where some 4,500 students will begin a new school year this Thursday.