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Baby Face KILLER Boys, Plotted Columbine-Style School Massacre
Baby Face Boys, 13 and 14, Plotted Columbine-Style School Massacre With Guns Stash
Teens Phillip Byrd and Connor Pruett allegedly planned a school shooting after researching the 1999 massacre, until fellow students in Florida reported concerns that one had a gun
Daily Mirror 15 SEP 2021.
Phillip Byrd
Connor Pruett
Two teenage boys allegedly plotted to carry out a mass shooting at their school.
Phillip Byrd, 14, and Connor Pruett, 13, are accused of planning to carry out the shooting, that would mirror the 1999 Columbine massacre at the Harns Marsh Middle School near Fort Myers in Florida, where they study.
They were reportedly caught before they managed to carry out the horrific crime when school administration found the teens with a map of the school marked up to show its security cameras.
The alleged plot was discovered when students told a teacher that one of their classmates had a gun in their bag.
Administration staff were then alerted and that led to an investigation. A weapon was not found but the map showing marks where security cameras were placed was.
The teenagers were caught after staff were alerted to rumours one of them had a gun in their bag
Lee County Police were then alerted and detectives discovered that Bryd and Pruett had been thoroughly studying the Columbine shooting, attempting to learn how to build a pipe bomb and researching how to buy guns on the black market.
Police also searched their homes and found ammunition, guns, and several knives.
Byrd's mother Carrie Tuller broke down in tears as she defended her son when he appeared in court on Sunday.
She said: "He's just a little boy. He didn't think this was really serious. He didn't think they were serious."
Byrd and Pruett were detained on Thursday where they underwent a mental health evaluation before being taken into custody and charged with conspiracy to commit a mass shooting.
Both were ordered to have no contact with school staff or students and were required to stay off school grounds.
They have been ordered by a judge to be held at a juvenile detention centre for 21 days.
They will next appear in court on September 27.
In a news conference, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said: "Detectives learned the students took an interest in the Columbine High School shooting.
"They were extensively studying to learn more about the incident and the shooters.
Byrd and Pruett wanted to 'learn about the Columbine shooting'
"This could have been the next Parkland massacre, but we stopped them in the planning stages."
He added that the teenagers were "well known" to police as officers had responded to calls to their homes nearly 80 times in total."
Lee County Superintendent Kenneth Savage tweeted after their arrest:
"To the heroes @HarnsMarshHS, THANK YOU! Your actions saved lives and for that @LeeSchools are forever grateful. All honor to @SheriffLeeFL and staff-students that intervened. "
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