College Place High School mother turns her Washington State son in after coming across diary entries in which the boy planned to inflict mass shooting on Columbine School shooting anniversary.
A Washington state mom may have averted a mass school shooting after turning in her 17-year-old son in to police upon finding plans in his journal to carry out a school massacre on the anniversary of the Columbine High School bloodbath.
‘It’s devastating. I know I did all I can do and that I made the right choice,’ the College Place mother, who only identified herself as Nicole, told CBS News. ‘I know a lot of people that go to College Place High School. Their lives would have been forever changed.’
The decision to turn her son in led to the teen being arrested on Sept. 17 arrest and booked on harassment and bomb threat charges KXLY reported.
‘Kill self after maximum damage.’
The teen, in his journal, said he’d use guns and a variety of explosives to carry out the attack on his school according to police records obtained by KTEL News.
Some of the notebook entries included the son purportedly writing, he’d ‘blast anyone in sight’ and ‘kill everyone possible,’ ‘execute survivors,’ along with ‘kill self after maximum damage.’
The boy’s mother said he told her that he was just being imaginative. The entries were ‘just a story,’ Nicole said was his response.
But Troy Tomaras, College Place police chief, wasn’t buying it.
‘Well, he’s plotting to attack and kill people,’ Tomaras told CBS News.
‘That’s beyond creative writing. That’s beyond normal.’
But there’s more. According to an arrest affidavit, the un-named boy according to journal entries had also planned to kill his mother and her boyfriend.
When asked how it feels as a mother to turn her son in, Nicole responded, ‘Like I’ve done something wrong.’
Police believe she did everything right.
Tomaras commended Nicole for speaking up.
‘She’s very courageous,’ he said. ‘It’s clearly very emotional for her. She loves her son.’
‘This was not an easy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do. The mother wanted to prevent others from being hurt and wants her son to get the help he needs,’ Tomaras told CNN at the time of the son’s arrest.
‘I’m worried about his mental health and he needs help,’ Nicole reiterated, while saying that he’s safer right now in jail than at school. ‘Truth hurts sometimes.’
Of note, no guns were found in the family home. The alleged attack was planned for April 20, 2020, the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.
