List of unsuccessful attacks related to schools

This is a list of unsuccessful or foiled attacks related to schools.

Foiled or exposed plots
Date Location Description
October 12, 1992 Lincoln, Nebraska, United States A 43-year-old graduate student, Arthur McElroy, walked into an actuarial science class at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and attempted to open fire on about 20 students with a .30-caliber M-1 carbine. As students reacted by hitting the floor and pulling desks over their heads in anticipation, the gun jammed, and McElroy was apprehended. A court later found McElroy insane. He was taken to the Lincoln Regional Center's Forensic Mental Services unit in December 1992. In May 2015, a Lancaster Country district judge announced plans for McElroy's release to a local nursing home after declaring McElroy to no longer be a threat to himself or others.[1]
November 16, 1998 Burlington, Wisconsin, United States Five students were arrested the morning they were planning to attempt a mass school shooting at Burlington High School (Wisconsin). Police were notified the previous week of the impending plot and met the Sunday before to plan the arrests. None of the guns were confiscated from the student's parents. Two of the students were held on prior convictions.[2]
May 1999 Port Huron, Michigan, United States A 12-year-old, 13-year-old and two 14-year-olds, all boys, planned to hold up a gun store and then attack the school. Once there, they planned to rape some of the girls and shoot as many as 154 targets which they had drawn up on a list. They had stolen a building plan from the custodian's office but they were all caught within a day of a classmate's report to an assistant principal.[3]
January 30, 2001 Cupertino, California, United States De Anza College student Al DeGuzman planned a Columbine-style school shooting at the school. An employee at a Longs Drugs store developed pictures of DeGuzman posing with his guns and homemade bombs. She and a coworker called the police. DeGuzman was arrested when he returned for his photos. Police searched Deguzman's bedroom and found several shotguns and rifles, nearly 1000 rounds of ammunition,[4] homemade bombs and a map of De Anza College, marked with locations where bombs would be placed.[5] In October 2002, DeGuzman was sentenced to seven years in state prison.[6] He later committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell on August 4, 2004.
February 14, 2001 Elmira, New York, United States Jeremy Getman, 18, planned a school attack at Southside High School, but it was foiled after students told a teacher that he was carrying weapons. He carried 14 pipe bombs, three smaller bombs, a propane tank, a sawed-off shotgun, and a .22 caliber pistol into the school by a duffel bag and also a book bag full of ammunition. On December 17, 2001, he was sentenced to 8½ years.[7]
March 16, 2004 Malcolm, Nebraska, United States 17-year-old Joshua Magee was arrested in the parking lot of Malcolm High School after a school staff member, who saw the youth drinking liquor and putting on a black overcoat, called the police. A search of Magee's car produced a bolt-action rifle, 20 bombs and a note stating that he wanted to injure everyone at the school except for three friends. Magee, to whom the school paid close attention after it was reported to faculty that he was experimenting with explosives at home, was charged with attempted murder.[8]
January 25, 2005 Grand Marais, Minnesota, United States 17-year-old David Riehm was arrested at his home on January 25, 2005, after authorities at Cook County High School turned over a collection of writings and essays to police in which Riehm described in great detail shooting and killing his English teacher. After spending 72 hours at Miller Dwan Hospital, Riehm was released. He was later acquitted of all charges.[9]
September 14, 2006 Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States Two 17-year-old boys were arrested the morning of Sept. 14 at Green Bay East High School for allegedly planning an armed attack on their school. Authorities said they found suicide notes at the homes of both Shawn Ryan Sturtz and William Charles Cornell. The following items were also found at Cornell's home: handmade explosives; bbs; gunpowder; toilet paper tubes and firecrackers; six one-quart jars of napalm; nine long guns, including rifles and shotguns; one handgun; walkie-talkies; numerous pellet guns; hundreds of rounds of ammunition; and mannequin heads that may have been used for target practice. In total, 110 items were seized.[10]
October 11, 2007 Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, United States 14-year-old Dillon Cossey was arrested at his home in Plymouth Meeting after a friend told police about his plan to carry out a Columbine-style attack on Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. After a police-conducted search of the Cossey residence, officers found a 9 mm Hi-Point Carbine, which he named "Reb" in honor of Eric Harris, over 30 airsoft guns, a dozen knives and swords, seven homemade explosives, four which were live, a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook, and several movies about the Columbine High School Massacre, all which were in the boy's bedroom. A .22 rifle and a .22 pistol, which were lent to another acquaintance for safe-keeping, were also recovered by authorities. However, no ammunition turned up in the search, so investigators have concluded that the threat of an attack was not imminent. Even on Cossey's MySpace page, he discussed his admiration for the bank robbers of the North Hollywood shootout as well as for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine gunmen. In his trial, Cossey confessed that he was going to carry out his shooting to kill the people who had relentlessly bullied him in elementary and middle school. Bullying led his parents to pull him out of public school at the end of his 7th grade year and home-school him. It was later found that he also had contact with Pekka-Eric Auvinen, the perpetrator of the Jokela school shooting, though Cossey apparently had no knowledge of Auvinen's plans. Cossey is currently serving time in juvenile detention and could possibly stay until the age of 21. His mother, Michelle Cossey, faced charges for purchasing the weapons and other charges regarding the welfare of her son.[11][12][13][14]
June 4, 2008 Mishawaka, Indiana, United States 16-year-old Russell Frantom was arrested after notebook retrieved from his locker at Penn High School stated, "I wanna break the current shooting record. I wanna get instant recognition." He and a 33-year-old possible accomplice, Lee Billi, were charged with conspiracy. Lee Billi was sentenced to 10 years in prison on March 26, 2009.[15][16]
December 4, 2008 Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States 15-year-old Richard Yanis was arrested for plotting a school shooting at Pottstown High School after his father reported to police three missing handguns. An investigation revealed that Yanis had stolen the guns from his father and put them into a duffel bag, which he handed to a friend with the words to "hold onto it". After checking the bag Yanis' friend told his mother of the weapons, who then forced him to get rid of them by throwing them into a river. After his arrest Yanis admitted that he had planned to shoot people at his school he didn't like, before committing suicide.[17][18]
March 11, 2009 Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, United States An eighth-grade student who attended St. Andrew School in Drexel Hill was arrested after a fellow pupil he attempted to recruit for an attack tipped off authorities. The suspect was then pulled from class and later arrested. Shortly after, two Airsoft pistols were found in his backpack, one of them looking very much like a real gun. The plan of the 13-year-old student was to force the school in lockdown and shoot anybody who tried to escape. He is charged with terroristic threats and reckless endangerment and is currently held in juvenile detention. He is also charged with burglary for stealing $370 from another school in Drexel Hill on the previous weekend. It is noted that the suspect has a history of mental illness.[19]
March 17, 2009 Attleborough, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom A 16-year-old student posted a threat on the website Newgrounds stating that he would go to Attleborough High School (currently named Attleborough Academy) with a gas canister, set fire to the building and commit other acts of violence. A Newgrounds user from Montreal, Quebec, Canada notified English authorities via Skype after seeing the threat. The student was found carrying a knife, matches and a plastic gas canister containing flammable liquid, and was arrested for threats to commit criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon, to which he admitted. Was then held under the Mental Health Act.[20][21][22]
October 21, 2009 Monroe, New York, United States A 15-year-old boy from Monroe was already on juvenile probation when he broke down crying as he admitted he stockpiled bottles of gasoline, makeshift fuses, a torch, a 2-foot (0.61 m) machete and three tanks of propane in a plot to attack former fellow students at Monroe-Woodbury High School.[23]
November 17, 2009 Beauvais, France A 13-year-old boy, who was said to have had difficulties at his school, was arrested in Beauvais, accused of having planned to shoot his teachers. His parents had called police after they found their son acting strangely and a gun missing. When the boy, armed with a hunting rifle and 25 cartridges, arrived at the school, it was already surrounded by police, so he dropped his plans, left the rifle in a field and went to an Internet café in the city. That day, a parent-teacher meeting was scheduled to discuss his future at the school, and it was suspected that he wanted to prevent this meeting from taking place. He apparently also wrote in a blog the evening before that this was the last day in his life.[24][25]
February 23, 2010 Littleton, CO Bruco Eastwood entered Deer Creek Middle School and shot two children before being disarmed by a teacher [26]
October 8, 2010 Carlsbad, CA Brendan O' Rourke wandered onto Kelly Elementary school and shot at two children before being apprehended by nearby construction workers [27]
August 17, 2011 Tampa Bay, Florida, United States 17-year-old former student of Freedom High School Jared Cano was arrested for a bomb plot and shooting against his school in an attempt to outdo the Columbine massacre. He left behind bomb materials, video, and a manifesto. He had been expelled from the school in March 2010. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.[28]
March 30, 2012 Orivesi, Finland A 23-year-old man fired two shots with a flare gun, hitting his ex-girlfriend's father in the arm in an office building. After the incident, he left and drove to Orivesi high school, took his rifle and went to the third floor, apparently after his ex-girlfriend. He then knocked on the door to the classroom and tried to shoot the teacher who opened the door, but the gunman's rifle didn't fire and the teacher was able to shut the door. The gunman then fired four rounds through the door but did not hit anyone. He was apprehended by police outside the school and the gunman dropped his rifle.[29]
May 27, 2013 Albany, Oregon, United States Grant Acord, a 17-year-old junior who was attending West Albany High School was found with an arsenal of explosives under the floorboards of his bedrooms. The explosives included a Molotov cocktail, a napalm bomb, and Drano bombs. He supposedly wanted to make a more "successful version" of the Columbine High School massacre. He was charged with attempted aggravated murder and six counts each of unlawful possession and manufacture of a destructive device. He is held on $2 million bail.[30]
July 3, 2013 Seattle, Washington, United States Justin M. Jasper was arrested by University of Washington police after being found in a stolen truck on campus. Inside the truck police found a stolen rifle fitted with a scope, a stolen shotgun, body armor, knives, a machete, and six incendiary devices. Jasper also had maps to three local campuses, the University of Washington, South Seattle Community College and Seattle University, in addition to anti-government literature and documents about the Syrian and Brazilian revolutions. Jasper had posted a podcast a few days prior to his arrest that indicated Jasper had anti-government views and was planning something in the western United States in support of the Brazilian revolution. He was charged in federal court with several felonies, had his bail set at $2 million US and is currently awaiting trial.[31]
December 20, 2013 Trinidad, Colorado, United States Two boys, 15 and 16, were arrested for planning an attack on Trinidad High School at the start of the new year. They had been planning the attack for up to six weeks. The 15-year-old reportedly idolized the Columbine High School and Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooters.[32]
March 2014 Leicestershire, England 17-year-old Michael Piggin was arrested after planning to attack his former school and other areas, including a cinema and a mosque. He detailed his plans in a notebook and stockpiled homemade bombs, bomb-making materials, and various weapons.[33] He also filmed a video of him throwing a Molotov cocktail.[34]
March 4, 2014 Danbury, Connecticut, United States 18-year-old Natalie Carpenter and 19-year-old Peter Thulin were arrested on March 4[35] and accused of planning a shooting at Danbury High School. Carpenter was reportedly obsessed with the Columbine High School massacre.[36]
May 1, 2014 Waseca, Minnesota, United States 17-year-old John David LaDue[37] was charged on May 1 with 10 attempted murder and explosives counts in a plot to shoot his family to death and then kill himself and "as many students as he could" by blowing up Waseca Junior/Senior High School, according to authorities. Explosives and materials used to create explosives were found in his possession. LaDue reportedly idolized the Columbine High School massacre shooters.[38]
November 3, 2014 Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 18-year-old Liam Lyburd was arrested at his home after posting online about a plot to commit mass murder at Newcastle College.[39] Police found a Glock 19 handgun, 94 hollow point bullets, pipe bombs, a machete and a balaclava and boiler suit in a bag in his room.[40][41] Police searched his computer and found out he had bought the weapons via the deep web[42] and had written a manifesto, which he tried to delete, where he claimed the attack was revenge for getting expelled in 2012,[43] had expressed admiration for Anders Behring Breivik and Jaylen Fryberg[44] and had taken pictures of himself posing with weapons. He was later sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 8 years, however in 2017 his garden was searched after he wrote a letter from prison to the new owner of the house claiming that weapons could still be buried there.[45][46]
December 1, 2014 Plain City, Utah, United States A 16-year-old at Fremont High School was arrested after a student informed a school resources officer they saw the student had a gun in his waistband. The student was arrested without incident and confessed his intentions to kill a girl with whom he had a prior relationship, and then "open fire" on fellow students at the school.[47]
February 14, 2018 Everett, Washington, United States An 18-year-old, Joshua O'Connor, was arrested after his grandmother discovered a journal that contained plans to commit a school shooting at ACES Alternative High School and reported the plan to police. The journal outlined the plans down to the minute. His plan involved planting pressure-cooker bombs under the bleachers and using zip-ties on door handles. His grandmother also discovered a Hi-Point carbine rifle hidden in his room. A judge sentenced O'Connor to a minimum of 22½ years in prison.[48]
April 17, 2019 Jefferson County, Colorado, United States An 18-year-old, Sol Pais, flew to Colorado from Florida on April 15th, 2019, and bought a shotgun in Denver, She was infatuated and obsessed with the Columbine High School massacre. All of the schools in the Jeffco District went on lockdown. The 20th anniversary of the Columbine massacre back in 1999 might have tipped Pais over the edge. Police says she committed suicide and was found dead on April 18, 2019, near Evergreen, Colorado.
June 12, 2019 Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico A 14-year-old, Diego Alberto, was arrested after entering his high school with a .22 revolver for the purpose of shooting his classmates. A teacher managed to detect the gun in the teenager's backpack and call the police.

See also

References
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  2. http://journaltimes.com/news/burlington-teens-arrested-in-high-school-murder-plot/article_2a70b9ca-e5bd-5214-b255-1fec77c1e142.html
  3. "Just a routine school shooting". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  4. PEOPLE v. DEGUZMAN
  5. De Anza College Bloodbath Foiled - Photo Clerk Calls Cops. Sfgate.com (2001-01-31). Retrieved on 2010-08-16.
  6. "Bay Area Briefs. Category: Features from". The Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  7. Fatal Shootings at Colleges and Schools Archived May 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Nebraska teen's bomb plot foiled". Usatoday.Com. 2004-03-18. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  9. "Family sues after creative writing assignment lands teen in psych ward". News.findlaw.com. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
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  12. "U.S. News | National News - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  13. "School killer in touch with US boy planning massacre - World". smh.com.au. 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  14. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301379,00.html
  15. Boy wrote of desire to kill many at Indiana school AP news
  16. Time Waster. "Indiana teen sought "instant recognition" via Columbine-like attack". Thesmokinggun.com. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  17. Student charged with school shooting plot asks for juvenile court trial, The Pottstown Mercury (December 24, 2008)
  18. School Attack Plot Thwarted In Pa., CBS News (December 10, 2008)
  19. 6abc.com and Action News: Police: Student tried to recruit for attack|6abc.com. Abclocal.go.com (2009-03-11). Retrieved on 2010-08-16.
  20. Burns, John F.6abc.com In Canada, Helping Avert Attack on a British School. New York Times, March 20, 2009.
  21. Montreal student sounds alert over planned U.K. school attack. CBC.ca, March 20, 2009.
  22. Teenager arrested after internet tip-off about planned school attack. The Telegraph, August 17, 2009.
  23. Teen accused of plotting attack at Monroe-Woodbury on Columbine anniversary. recordonline.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-16.
  24. Police foil teenager's plan to shoot teachers, RFI (November 18, 2009)
  25. French boy leaves home for school 'intending to shoot teachers', The Telegraph (November 18, 2009)
  26. https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/Eastwood_Appeal.pdf
  27. https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/orourke_profile_1.1.pdf
  28. "Foiled Freedom High School shooter Jared Cano sentenced to 15 years in prison". wtsp.com. 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  29. Man shot through a classroom door in Finnish school - arrested shortly after, Iltalehti (March 30, 2012)
  30. "Grant Acord Update: Ore. teen who allegedly planned school bomb attack called self "Russian grim reaper," court docs say". CBS News. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  31. "$2 million bail for man found near UW with Molotov cocktails | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News". KOMO News. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  32. "Police say they thwarted shooting plot at Colorado school". Fox News. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  33. Halliday, Josh (4 July 2014). "Michael Piggin detained under Mental Health Act". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
  34. Robson, Steve. "Michael Piggin: Teen accused of planning Columbine-style school massacre in Leicestershire throwing molotov cocktail - Mirror Online". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  35. Ceneviva, Alex (March 5, 2014). "Teen girl arrested for threats against schools". WTNH. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
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  37. Johnson, Alex (May 2, 2014). "Waseca School Bomb Plot Foiled Thanks to Witness". NBC News. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  38. CNN Wire (May 2, 2014). "Police: Minnesota teen who idolized Columbine massacre planned school attack". KDVR. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  39. Newcastle College bomb plotter Liam Lyburd jailed for life with a minimum of 8 years
  40. Liam Lyburd mass murder plot: Teen sentenced to life
  41. Liam Lyburd jailed for life for 'chilling' Newcastle College massacre plot
  42. How A Teenager Came Within Hours Of Carrying Out A College Massacre
  43. Liam Lyburd: 'People will die' Newcastle College plot was real
  44. Liam Lyburd: Teen terrorist compared himself to Anders Breivik and 'plotted to kill commuters'
  45. Garden of Newcastle College bomb plotter Liam Lyburd searched
  46. 'Hello, it's Liam Lyburd, please give this letter to the police' - bomb plotter's chilling warning
  47. "School shooting thwarted: Fremont High School student arrested with a loaded gun at school"
  48. "Everett teen sentenced to 22½ years for school shooting plot"

Notes
  • ^ a: Including death or injury of attacker(s), when applicable.
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