On Saturday, a new report on a 2016 school shooter revealed that he specifically chose the target because it did not have any armed security, leading him to believe he could kill up to 150 students if he was “lucky.”
The shooter, who was 14 years old at the time, wrote that his plan was “shooting my dad getting his keys getting in his truck, driving to the elementary school 4 mins away, once there gear up, shoot out the bottom school class room windows, enter the building, shoot the first class which will be the 2d grade, grab teachers keys so I don’t have to hassle to get through any doors,” The Washington Post reported.
The shooter was intent on outdoing all other previous school shooters and had planned his attack for nearly two years, saying, “I think ill probably most likely kill around 50 or 60. If I get lucky maybe 150.”
The shooter was in court the same day that a gunman opened fire at Marjory Douglas Stonemen High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people.
The 2016 shooter ultimately chose his target because it lacked armed security. The Post notes:
Two days later, he debated whether he should attack his middle school, from which he’d been expelled, or his elementary school, just up the road. He decided on Townville Elementary because it was closer and had no armed security.
The revelation comes as U.S. lawmakers debate over the best way to keep kids safe at school in the wake of the Florida school shooting.
President Donald Trump has said in recent weeks that gun free zones are partly to blame for school mass shootings, instead suggesting putting armed guards in schools and allowing some teachers to carry guns on school campuses.