A 16-year-old boy was arrested last week after police received a signal that he was recruiting classmates in a conspiracy to carry out a mass shooting at a high school in Berkeley, California.
The Berkeley Police Department said in a statement that the tip came on May 21 and there was an alleged plan to target the Berkeley High School by shooting and possibly a bomb.
This prompted police to order a search of the teenager’s home, and authorities acted quickly as parts of explosives and machine guns were found in the boy’s home. Several knives and electronic weapons were also found on the spot.
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The teenager, who is unnamed because he is a minor, surrendered on Monday and was assessed by a mental health response team at his arrest on suspicion of possessing destructive material and threatening to commit a crime that could cause bodily harm.
Berkeley United School District Governor Brent Stevens thanked those who responded in a letter to the school community.
“Speaking in this case allowed the police to intervene before any damage could occur,” Stevens wrote.
The teenager’s arrest comes a week after a shooting at a primary school in Uwalde, Texas, in which 19 children were killed by a gunman. And less than three weeks ago, 10 people were killed in a racist shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
It’s also been a little over a month since the Berkeley campus in California was temporarily closed due to a “credible threat across campus.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California School Shooting Attempt: 16-Year-Old Student Arrested
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