A Grandmother in Washington Stopped Her Grandson's Alleged School Shooting Plot
On a tragic day for Florida, something similar was averted here.
Posted by Everett Herald on Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Authorities arrested a Washington state student suspected in a school shooting plot after his grandmother showed officers plans for an attack.
Police in Everett, which is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Seattle, arrested 18-year-old Joshua Alexander O'Connor on attempted murder and other charges at ACES High School on February 13, The Daily Herald reported.
Earlier, O'Connor's grandmother, who NBC News later identified as Catherine Katsel-O'Connor, called 911 and showed responding officers a journal where he allegedly drew up plans to shoot students and use homemade explosives at the school, police said.
In the journal entries, O'Connor described in detail how he was preparing for the attack. "My aim has gotten much more accurate," he wrote (via NBC News). "I can't wait to walk into that class and blow all those f--kers away."
O'Connor's also discussed making pressure-cooker bombs, activating inert grenades and deploying explosives for maximum casualties, court papers said.
"I need to make this count," O'Connor reportedly wrote. "I've been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings) I'm learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes."
Detectives serving a search warrant at the grandmother's house seized the student's journal, a rifle found inside a guitar case and inert grenades.
Public defender Rachel Forde noted the gun and the grenade shells were legal to possess. She said the "musings and ventings" in O'Connor's journal weren't enough evidence to support a charge of attempted murder.
Another entry allegedly described an armed robbery of a convenience store that police believe O'Connor participated in Monday night.
Cash from the robbery was supposed to help fund the school shooting, said deputy prosecutor Andrew Alsdorf in court.
O'Connor's bail was set at $5 million.
