Two teenagers were arrested on May 11 in Tehama County in connection with threatening a violent attack at a middle school.
At a press conference this afternoon, Tehama County Sheriff Dave Kain confirmed law enforcement found two improvised explosive devices on the kids.
The kids — aged 14 and 15 — are both students of Evergreen Institute of Excellence, and had a manifesto and a plan to attack Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood.
Kain told reporters that their goal was to kill 100 people. He said bullying was a factor for one of the suspects, but no one was a specific target.
The sheriff’s office was notified about the threat by a teenager in Tennessee who played online video games with the kids and heard one of them talking about school violence.
One of the teens also sent photos of them dressed similarly to the Columbine shooters.
The Tennessee resident told his parents, who then alerted authorities. The threat was reported to the sheriff’s office on Friday night, and Kain said it was fully mitigated before school started on Monday.
Kain — whose child attends the targeted middle school — expressed appreciation to the Tennessee teenager who took the threats seriously. He said that help was essential to preventing the incident.
The two teenagers will be appearing in court tomorrow for the first time. They face charges of making criminal threats, manufacturing destructive devices and possession of a destructive device.
Guns were seized after a search, but Kain said it’s not clear whether the guns were going to be used in the original plan.
Kain said law enforcement is still investigating whether the parents were aware of the threats and whether their home environment may have contributed.
Neither of the teenagers appear to have previous interactions with law enforcement, Kain said. He’s asked the district attorney not to release them from custody for the safety of the community.
NSPR reporter Erik Adams contributed reporting to this story.
