Police Intercept Columbine Copycat Teens
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
COLUMBUS, Kan. – Five teenage boys were charged yesterday with threatening to carry out a shooting spree at their high school on the anniversary of the Columbine bloodbath.
The defendants, ages 16 to 18, were each charged with incitement to riot and making a criminal threat.
A judge set bail at $50,000 for Charles New, 18, who was charged as an adult. The four juveniles were ordered held for a hearing May 3.
“These are serious allegations and they scared me as I read them,” Judge Robert Fleming said.
The incitement charges carries to seven to 23 months in jail; the criminal threat charge is punishable by five to 17 months behind bars.
The teenagers were arrested Thursday – the seventh anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado – after a message about the alleged plot appeared on the Web site MySpace.com.
Sheriff Steve Norman said the teens planned to wear black trench coats and disable the school’s camera system before starting the attack.
