SOUTH PASADENA, California — Two teenage boys in Southern California were arrested after making specific plans to kill three staffers then gun down as many students as possible at their high school, police said.
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The boys, who did not yet have weapons but were trying to get them, had been under constant surveillance since the school district informed police of their plans last Thursday, South Pasadena police Sgt. Brian Solinsky said.
He would not elaborate on the plans, but Solinsky said they were “very specific” and included named targets.
“This is a prime example of school officials recognizing suspicious behavior,” Solinsky said in a statement Monday. “It was this information that helped prevent a horrific tragedy.”
The US has suffered a spate of school shootings in recent years that have fueled nationwide debate over issues such as gun control. Police found evidence that the boys in South Pasadena were researching rifles, submachine guns, bombs and other explosives, especially propane.
The boys were both about to begin their last year at South Pasadena High School in the community of about 25,000 people northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The first day of classes is scheduled for Thursday.