Police: Maryland 'mass school shooting' averted after teen's arrest

April 18 (UPI) -- Maryland police have arrested a teenager on charges of threatening mass violence after investigators turned up evidence that the suspect was planning to carry out a mass shooting at a pair of suburban Maryland schools.

Alex Ye, 18 of Rockville, Md., whose legal name is Andrea Ye, was arrested on Wednesday after authorities were alerted to a 129-page "memoir" Ye allegedly wrote that included descriptions of carrying out mass shootings at a high school and elementary school, court records show.

Ye had described the writings as fiction, and included a disclaimer saying as much. The work doesn't "represent the author's beliefs," Ye wrote. But a witness with whom Ye shared the writings contacted authorities in early March because the witness said the writings bore "striking similarities" to Ye, according to court documents.

The witness also believed the writings indicated Ye was prepared to carry out a mass shooting imminently, the court documents said, and Ye later described the writings as "his memoir" when interviewed by police.

The investigation concluded that Ye's writing contained "portions of fictional and non-fictional qualities," the court records said.

The witness told police that Ye's "memoir" was about "a transgender main character" named "James Wang" who was "being bullied in school and other issues that [the witness] believed were directly from Ye's life and not indicative of fiction," documents show.

Police said in court records that Ye is biologically female but uses male pronouns.

The writings included detailed descriptions of how the character would carry out a shooting, saying he would "cherry-pick the classrooms that are the easiest targets."

"I have also considered shooting up my former elementary school because little kids make easier targets," Ye's essay said, attributing the comment to the main character, according to court documents.

Police found social media posts and online material as part of their investigation, including a web search for "gun range near me," descriptions of an AR-15 assault rifle and the phrase "But, I do recognize that my plan is fully unethical. It's selfish and evil."

Chat records show Ye discussing shooting up his school with another online user in September. In December, Ye allegedly wrote to another user, "My homicidal ideation has been getting worse lately to the point I might act on it eventually," adding in another message that month, "I'd want to kill a lot of people or it wouldn't be worth it," court documents show Ye wrote.

There's no allegation in the documents that Ye had possession of any firearms leading up to the time of his arrest.

Ye is being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit while waiting for a bond hearing.

Ye is listed as an active student at Wootton High School in Rockville, and he has been attending classes through a virtual program and hasn't "physically attended" school since late 2022, Montgomery County Public Schools said in a statement.

Ye has a record of receiving inpatient care for mental health issues including openly expressed thoughts of homicidal and suicidal ideation and what he described as a history of suffering abuse, the court records state. The witness who first alerted law enforcement to what police also called Ye's "manifesto" knew him from when they were both in inpatient treatment at a psychiatric care facility.

Ye was previously hospitalized "for threatening to 'shoot up a school'" as well as other issues, according to the court documents.