• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • Heroic Pennsylvania officer saves father and daughter from drowning...
        Denver law enforcement struggle to divert low-level offenders to...
        “The good guys won …”
        “Service was running through his veins”: Condolences pour in for...
        Atlanta police officer and fire rescue captain save trapped driver...
    • Labor
      • San Francisco “workhorse” deputy earns millions in overtime pay...
        “A financial tsunami”
        LAPD officers receive raises, bonuses
        Minnesota police force faces disbandment as chief resigns amid salary...
        We quit!
    • Tech
      • The rise of I2P
        Ann Arbor Police Department adopts AI technology to analyze body...
        Ohio law enforcement adopts powerful ballistics technology to combat...
        AI-powered surveillance program raises concerns over privacy rights...
        Chesterfield County announces real-time crime center to enhance...
    • Training
      • Leaders take note: A handwritten note goes a long way
        CIT training is not for everyone
        Mentoring: Leave ’em better than you found ’em
        Ohio struggles to secure permanent funding for law enforcement...
        Firearm instructors: Just be better!
    • Policy
      • Texas enacts stricter laws to combat illegal street racing and...
        New Mexico Supreme Court clarifies police authority to question...
        New Texas law gives local law enforcement greater control over...
        Diversity in law enforcement
        Florida attorney general and John Walsh partner in new Crime Stoppers...
    • Health/Wellness
      • What threat does to the brain
        Seeking the right kind of help
        Working through grief
        Responding to trauma
        “Why does that call keep haunting me?”
    • Community
      • Stockton P.D. launches Your Way Registry Program to protect...
        Committing to outreach
        Scam callers pose as law enforcement to trick victims into paying for...
        “Live every day like it’s your last”
        National Night Out 2023
    • Offbeat
      • California Highway Patrol arrests man on horseback for DUI
        Runaway lemur leads Missouri police on wild chase
        Alligator on the loose in New Jersey captured after two-week chase
        Traffic stop by TV’s Dog the Bounty Hunter’s son leads to...
        Bone-chilling: Human skull found in donation box at Arizona Goodwill...
    • We Remember
      • Headstone finally marks grave of Pennsylvania officer who gave his...
        Memorial for the fallen: The sacrifice continues
        Paying Tribute to the Fallen Heroes of 9/11
        “He was like a protector …”: Genesee County sheriff’s deputy...
        Deadly police pursuit claims life of 19-year-old Vermont police...
  • On the Job
    • Heroic Pennsylvania officer saves father and daughter from drowning...
      Denver law enforcement struggle to divert low-level offenders to...
      “The good guys won …”
      “Service was running through his veins”: Condolences pour in for...
      Atlanta police officer and fire rescue captain save trapped driver...
  • Labor
    • San Francisco “workhorse” deputy earns millions in overtime pay...
      “A financial tsunami”
      LAPD officers receive raises, bonuses
      Minnesota police force faces disbandment as chief resigns amid salary...
      We quit!
  • Tech
    • The rise of I2P
      Ann Arbor Police Department adopts AI technology to analyze body...
      Ohio law enforcement adopts powerful ballistics technology to combat...
      AI-powered surveillance program raises concerns over privacy rights...
      Chesterfield County announces real-time crime center to enhance...
  • Training
    • Leaders take note: A handwritten note goes a long way
      CIT training is not for everyone
      Mentoring: Leave ’em better than you found ’em
      Ohio struggles to secure permanent funding for law enforcement...
      Firearm instructors: Just be better!
  • Policy
    • Texas enacts stricter laws to combat illegal street racing and...
      New Mexico Supreme Court clarifies police authority to question...
      New Texas law gives local law enforcement greater control over...
      Diversity in law enforcement
      Florida attorney general and John Walsh partner in new Crime Stoppers...
  • Health/Wellness
    • What threat does to the brain
      Seeking the right kind of help
      Working through grief
      Responding to trauma
      “Why does that call keep haunting me?”
  • Community
    • Stockton P.D. launches Your Way Registry Program to protect...
      Committing to outreach
      Scam callers pose as law enforcement to trick victims into paying for...
      “Live every day like it’s your last”
      National Night Out 2023
  • Offbeat
    • California Highway Patrol arrests man on horseback for DUI
      Runaway lemur leads Missouri police on wild chase
      Alligator on the loose in New Jersey captured after two-week chase
      Traffic stop by TV’s Dog the Bounty Hunter’s son leads to...
      Bone-chilling: Human skull found in donation box at Arizona Goodwill...
  • We Remember
    • Headstone finally marks grave of Pennsylvania officer who gave his...
      Memorial for the fallen: The sacrifice continues
      Paying Tribute to the Fallen Heroes of 9/11
      “He was like a protector …”: Genesee County sheriff’s deputy...
      Deadly police pursuit claims life of 19-year-old Vermont police...
  • Between the Lines
    • Debunking the perpetual narrative of racial bias in policing
      The unspoken truth behind the recruitment and retention crisis
      The police reform goal: use of force without options
      The imprisonment of law enforcement technology
      Persecution of the LEO is classic schadenfreude
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

On the Job

Florida mass shooting plot foiled by law enforcement and school staff, students

APB Team Published September 25, 2021 @ 12:00 pm PDT

Law enforcement along with school staff and students foiled a possible mass shooting in Florida after a teacher was tipped off about a possible concealed weapon.

According to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, two middle school students at Harns Marsh Middle School in Lehigh Acres outside Fort Myers have been charged with conspiracy to commit a mass shooting after a thorough investigation discovered the students’ Columbine-inspired plans.

While a search of the students’ backpacks did not reveal a concealed weapon, detectives with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s youth services criminal investigations division identified evidence to implicate a 13-year-old and 14-year-old “involved in a plot to carry out a school shooting.”

“Detectives learned that the students took an interest in the Columbine High School shooting,” Marceno said during a press conference. “They were extensively studying to learn more about the incident and the shooters”.

Authorities said that school administrators also found a map in one of the students’ backpacks indicating the locations of the school’s interior CCTV cameras.

Sheriff Marceno said that the students, who were well known by deputies, were not only interested in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, but were learning how to make pipe bombs. According to ABC News, deputies had already visited the pairs’ homes around 80 times combined.

“Detectives also learned that the students were attempting to learn how to construct pipe bombs, and how to purchase firearms on the black market,” the sheriff added.

Police found a gun and several knives in subsequent searches of their homes.

“This could have turned disastrous,” Marceno said. “We were one second away from a Columbine here.”

An arrest report included witness testimonies that the teens, who had their first court appearance on Sept. 16, also attempted to recruit others to participate in the mass shooting.

Lee County Superintendent Ken Savage lauded the students who reported the potential threat, as well as the teacher who alerted administrators and school resource officers after receiving the tip.

“Students were safe at all times,” Savage told reporters. “All the threat assessment and emergency response training made a difference in the outcome of this incident.”

School principle Alex Dworzanski also praised the students’ and staff’s actions to report the threat.

“The safety of our students and staff is at the core of what we do,” he told WBBH.

The teens are currently being held at a juvenile detention center, and will undergo a mental health evaluation.

Marceno said they may be put under a risk protection order that restricts firearm and ammunition to those who pose a risk to themselves or others.

“Those responsible for threats — real or fake — will be held accountable,” Marceno said.

Categories: On the Job Tags: middle school, Columbine, students, pipe bombs, Fort Myers, Law Enforcement, Florida mass shooting plot, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Carmine Marceno

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Stockton P.D. launches Your Way Registry Program to protect individuals with mental and neurological disorders
  • What threat does to the brain
  • Texas enacts stricter laws to combat illegal street racing and takeovers
  • California Highway Patrol arrests man on horseback for DUI
  • Committing to outreach
  • Runaway lemur leads Missouri police on wild chase
  • Scam callers pose as law enforcement to trick victims into paying for missing jury duty
  • Seeking the right kind of help
  • San Francisco “workhorse” deputy earns millions in overtime pay amid staffing shortages
  • New Mexico Supreme Court clarifies police authority to question passengers during traffic stops

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Options | Notice at Collection | Copyright © 2023 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.