Four teenage boys from New Jersey could be the first people ever convicted on terrorism charges in the state after being charged Thursday in a plot to kill 25 people during a lunch-period massacre.
The Associated Press reports that the four unnamed teens, aged 14-16, were arrested Wednesday after police heard about the alleged plot from administrators at Winslow Township High School in Atco, New Jersey, where three of the teens are students.
They were initially charged with lower-level crimes in the plot to kill students, teachers and others, but authorities added the counts of making terroristic threats and conspiracy to make terroristic threats on Thursday, in addition to two counts each of conspiracy to attempt murder. The charges are serious enough that prosecutors could ask a judge to move the case from family court to adult criminal court, where the penalties could be much harsher.
The 14-year-old was charged Wednesday with simple assault for grabbing a girl by the neck and threatening to kill her on March 15, in addition to a second charge of making terrorist threats.
Prosecutors have 30 days to consider whether to request moving the case. The teens are being held until the New Jersey Department of Human Services completes psychological and psychiatric evaluations after court counselors who interviewed them recommended they not be released to their parents' care until a full picture of their mental conditions could be learned, according to the AP.
Authorities said the boys did not have any weapons to carry out the plot, but the group's 15-year-old leader had twice tried to buy guns from underground dealers during the past week, according to the Cherry Hill Courier-Post newspaper. One of the dealers took his money without delivering the gun and another was arrested on a drug charge before a sale was completed.
In a message posted on Winslow Township High School's official Web site on Wednesday, Principal Michelle Ferner announced that the three students were arrested and suspended from school. "Please understand that the administrative staff has considered these matters with the utmost seriousness," she wrote. "All of the necessary precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of students and staff."
Authorities described the scenario the boys were allegedly plotting to the Courier-Post, based on interviews with fellow students. What began as a harmless food fight would turn into a chair-throwing melee interrupted by a single gunshot that would send everyone to the floor. That's when the students planned to begin executing specific teachers and then move on to other, unnamed, people in the area, with 25 targeted in all.
Nick Lotierzo and Chuck Sigwart, two 16-year-old sophomores who eat lunch during fourth period — the time targeted in the scenario — said they had been hearing rumors of their classmates' alleged plot to kill students and teachers for up to two weeks but didn't know whether to take them seriously.
"We heard it was going to be like Columbine," Sigwart said Thursday. "We heard they were going to do it Friday at the pep rally and then it was supposed to be in the cafeteria." Sigwart added that he heard the shooting would take place on April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
Fellow Winslow students described three of the suspects as "goths" who were often harassed for wearing black trench coats, nail polish and makeup.
The father of one of the 15-year-old boys said Thursday that the charges were a mistake. "I think it's just kids hanging out together and having a little wild time, that's all," he said.
A state judiciary spokeswoman said no one has ever been convicted of terrorism in New Jersey, a charge lawmakers created four years ago in response to the September 11 attacks. People convicted of the crime in adult court must be sentenced to at least 30 years in prison and are not eligible for parole for 30 years. Those would be far harsher sentences than the ones given to three teens in Oaklyn, New Jersey, in 2003, after they pleaded guilty in a case in which they were caught with guns, ammunition and swords. Each received a sentence of 4-10 years, according to the AP.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/15...headlines=true&rsspartner=rssYahooNewscrawler
The Associated Press reports that the four unnamed teens, aged 14-16, were arrested Wednesday after police heard about the alleged plot from administrators at Winslow Township High School in Atco, New Jersey, where three of the teens are students.
They were initially charged with lower-level crimes in the plot to kill students, teachers and others, but authorities added the counts of making terroristic threats and conspiracy to make terroristic threats on Thursday, in addition to two counts each of conspiracy to attempt murder. The charges are serious enough that prosecutors could ask a judge to move the case from family court to adult criminal court, where the penalties could be much harsher.
The 14-year-old was charged Wednesday with simple assault for grabbing a girl by the neck and threatening to kill her on March 15, in addition to a second charge of making terrorist threats.
Prosecutors have 30 days to consider whether to request moving the case. The teens are being held until the New Jersey Department of Human Services completes psychological and psychiatric evaluations after court counselors who interviewed them recommended they not be released to their parents' care until a full picture of their mental conditions could be learned, according to the AP.
Authorities said the boys did not have any weapons to carry out the plot, but the group's 15-year-old leader had twice tried to buy guns from underground dealers during the past week, according to the Cherry Hill Courier-Post newspaper. One of the dealers took his money without delivering the gun and another was arrested on a drug charge before a sale was completed.
In a message posted on Winslow Township High School's official Web site on Wednesday, Principal Michelle Ferner announced that the three students were arrested and suspended from school. "Please understand that the administrative staff has considered these matters with the utmost seriousness," she wrote. "All of the necessary precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of students and staff."
Authorities described the scenario the boys were allegedly plotting to the Courier-Post, based on interviews with fellow students. What began as a harmless food fight would turn into a chair-throwing melee interrupted by a single gunshot that would send everyone to the floor. That's when the students planned to begin executing specific teachers and then move on to other, unnamed, people in the area, with 25 targeted in all.
Nick Lotierzo and Chuck Sigwart, two 16-year-old sophomores who eat lunch during fourth period — the time targeted in the scenario — said they had been hearing rumors of their classmates' alleged plot to kill students and teachers for up to two weeks but didn't know whether to take them seriously.
"We heard it was going to be like Columbine," Sigwart said Thursday. "We heard they were going to do it Friday at the pep rally and then it was supposed to be in the cafeteria." Sigwart added that he heard the shooting would take place on April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
Fellow Winslow students described three of the suspects as "goths" who were often harassed for wearing black trench coats, nail polish and makeup.
The father of one of the 15-year-old boys said Thursday that the charges were a mistake. "I think it's just kids hanging out together and having a little wild time, that's all," he said.
A state judiciary spokeswoman said no one has ever been convicted of terrorism in New Jersey, a charge lawmakers created four years ago in response to the September 11 attacks. People convicted of the crime in adult court must be sentenced to at least 30 years in prison and are not eligible for parole for 30 years. Those would be far harsher sentences than the ones given to three teens in Oaklyn, New Jersey, in 2003, after they pleaded guilty in a case in which they were caught with guns, ammunition and swords. Each received a sentence of 4-10 years, according to the AP.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/15...headlines=true&rsspartner=rssYahooNewscrawler
) play soccer and try to steal alcohol from are parents drinks cabinets. Damn times change .
