An Indiana teen who was reported to have an “obsession” with the school shooter who murdered 17 people seven years ago is accused of plotting a Valentine’s Day massacre.
The Indiana teen who was later identified as 18-year-old Trinity Shockley, has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and two terrorism-related charges stated by Morgan County court.
Shockley is currently held at Morgan County Jail without bond. It was also reported that Shockley has retained an attorney and will be appearing before a judge at a bond hearing on Tuesday, February 18.
(Morgan County Sheriff’s Office)
According to Florida officials in a CNN article the authorities were tipped off through an unknown person. “An unknown person contacted the Sandy Hook tip line Monday to say a friend has access to an AR-15 rifle, had just ordered a bulletproof vest, and admires Nikolas Cruz – the gunman who murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida” (Yan, Riess, Feb. 12).
Shockley reportedly made comments on Discord a messaging app, describing in detail the plan for the shooting. Shockley allegedly wrote comments such as “I’m shooing him”, “Parkland part two”, and “I’ve been planning this for a YEAR”.
Once authorities were made aware of the messages, they were put out to take further measures such as search warrant on Shockley’s home. Police found notebooks describing fantasies of mass shootings.
One side of Shockley’s wall was plastered with collages of mass shooters. The pictures were of Dylann Roof, Andrew Blaze, and Nicholas Cruz.
After further research authorities discovered that the cause of this behavior could be because of Shockley’s mother’s death. It was reported that Shockley had a break down at school due and were skipping classes at the end of the day. A detective explained to CNN why Shockley might think they “relate” to Nicholas Cruz. “She hated him for what he did and at the same time understood what he did. Cruz wanted to ruin Valentine’s Day and ruin the families because he did not have his own. She can relate to that because of the loss of her mom and people talking about their moms” ( Yan, Riess, Feb. 12).
After the incident, the superintendent in a statement states, “Our schools should always be a place of safety, learning, and belonging. We are committed to doing everything in our power to keep our schools safe” (Yan, Riess, Feb. 12).
