The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that two suspects, aged 14 and 15, were planning a mass shooting at Evergreen Middle School in the town of Cottonwood.
Law enforcement said they received a tip on May 9 from a Tennessee resident who played online video games with the teens. The tipster told authorities that the suspects claimed to have a manifesto and shared images of themselves dressed as the Columbine High School shooters, according to the sheriff's office.
Police said they found evidence of a credible threat after serving search warrants at the suspects’ homes.
According to the tip, a plan to target the school on May 9 was aborted after one of the juveniles backed out.
Authorities arrested the suspects, whose names are being withheld because they are minors, on May 11. They are booked in the Tehama County Juvenile Justice Center with charges of criminal threats, manufacturing destructive devices, possession of a destructive device and conspiracy to commit a felony. Police said they worked with school officials to identify the suspects.
“The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the school administration for their assistance and involvement in this investigation, the tireless hard work of the deputies and investigators to expeditiously mitigate this threat,” the Tehama Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
In 2017, a Tehama gunman killed five and injured 14 in the county. The shooter crashed his vehicle into the Rancho Tehama Elementary School and opened fire on classrooms, injuring seven children. The 44-year-old gunman took his own life after a police pursuit.
