A potential school shooter was arrested this week after his grandmother notified police of his suspicious activity.
TheHill.com reports that Joshua O’Connor’s grandmother notified law enforcement after she saw disturbing entries in O’Connor’s journal detailing how he planned to shoot students at ACES High School in Everett, Washington.
O’Connor reportedly wrote that he wanted to carry out a school shooting that would be “infamous” and would cause the “biggest fatality number I possibly can.”
The 18-year-old O’Connor had also written that he had been "reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings) I'm learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes."
O’Connor’s situation raises the question of how much potential shooters are influenced by the actions of other shooters. His grandmother's 911 call also came just one day before the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
O’Connor was also found to have an AK-47 and military-type grenades hidden at his home. He was arrested at school where police found him in possession of a knife and marijuana.
Mukilteo School District spokesman Andy Muntz commended the grandmother for taking action and said this should encourage anyone who sees something suspicious not to hesitate to report it.
“It really speaks to the [importance] of if you see something or hear something to notify authorities," Muntz said. "That's what she did. It could well have saved many, many lives, including her grandson's life."
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Publication date: February 16, 2018