Teens arrested for school shooting plot
Originally published 06:02 p.m., April 20, 2006
Updated 09:24 p.m., April 20, 2006
Riverton, Kan. — Prosecutors are weighing possible charges against five teenage boys accused of plotting a violent rampage at their southeast Kansas high school.
Five students were arrested Thursday in a foiled shooting plot at Riverton High School in southeast Kansas. The arrests came after details of the plan appeared on the social networking Web site MySpace.com.
Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Norman says deputies found guns, ammunition, knives and encoded messages in the bedroom of one of the youths. The youths, all males, range in age from 16 to 18.
Norman says officials at the high school began investigating on Tuesday after learning that a threatening message had been posted on the Web site by a student. The sheriff says the attack had been planned for about noon Thursday.
The message discussed the significance of April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday and the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School attack in Colorado. In that case, two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher, wounded 24 others, and then took their own lives.
The sheriff says the brief messages "stated that there was going to be a shooting at the Riverton School and that people should wear bulletproof vest and flak jackets."
The prosecution will be handled by the office of Attorney General Phill Kline, who refused at an evening news conference to discuss details or whether other homes had been searched.
Charges may be announced when the boys appear in court Friday.
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