A teenage student has been arrested for allegedly plotting a school shooting after his grandmother found a semiautomatic rifle hiding in his guitar case and a detailed journal which contained plans for a pressure cooker bomb.
Joshua Alexander O’Connor was arrested by police in Everett, 30 miles north of Seattle, Washington, on attempted murder and other charges at ACES High School according to The Daily Herald.
His grandmother 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.
O’Connor wrote that he wanted the death count to be as high as possible so that the shooting would be infamous, according to court papers.
Joshua Alexander O’Connor was arrested by police on attempted murder and other charges at ACES High School (pictured)
His entries included details about making pressure-cooker bombs, activating inert grenades and deploying explosives for maximum casualties, court papers said.
He allegedly wrote: ‘I’m preparing myself for the school shooting. I can’t wait. My aim has gotten much more accurate… I can’t wait to walk into that class and blow all those (expletives) away.’
He continued: ‘I need to make this count. I’ve been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings) I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes.’
After his grandmother read the entries, she found a semiautomatic rifle hiding in his guitar case. She then called police on Tuesday.
Detectives serving a search warrant at the grandmother’s house seized the student’s journal, the rifle and inert grenades.
In court on Wednesday, deputy prosecutor Andrew Alsdorf said that O’connor bought the rifle because it was the same style used in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.
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. When police search his room, they also found a green-and-black jacket that reportedly matched the one worn by the gunman in the robbery.
O’Connor’s bail was set at $5million.
The incident comes just as 17 people were shot dead by former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida.