16-year-old arrested after police received tip he was recruiting students for a mass shooting at a California high school, officials say
By Taylor Romine, CNN
A 16-year-old boy was arrested this week after police learned he was allegedly recruiting students to carry out a mass shooting at a high school in Berkeley, California, authorities said Wednesday.
Police received a tip on May 21 of the teen’s alleged plot targeting Berkeley High School, which also included a possible bombing, and obtained a search warrant for his home, Berkeley Police said in a statement.
The search turned up parts to explosives and assault rifles as well as several knives and electronic items that could be used to create weapons, police said.
Authorities also prepared a mental health response through the city’s Mobile Crisis Team to evaluate the teen.
He turned himself in Monday, police said, and was arrested on suspicion of possessing destructive device materials and threatening to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment because the person arrested is a juvenile.
The discovery of the reported mass shooting plot comes as the US grapples with a series of mass shootings that have left communities across the country grieving.
Last week, an 18-year-old opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers.
Less than three weeks ago, 10 people were killed in a racially motivated shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
And Wednesday, at least four people were killed and several were hurt in a shooting at a medical facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, police said, in what became America’s 233rd mass shooting this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. CNN and the archive define a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.
In a letter to the school community, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Brent Stephens thanked those who came forward to report the alleged threat.
“Speaking up in this instance allowed for the police to intervene in advance of any harm occurring,” Stephens wrote.
He said the school had been in contact with the police department since the onset of the investigation, which is ongoing.
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CNN’s Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.
