Locked up, teenager who talked of school shooting and idolised the killers behind Colombine

A transgender teenager who discussed carrying out a mass shooting at his school has been locked up after a judge rejected pleas to spare him jail.

The boy ‘idolised’ those behind the 1999 Colombine High School massacre in Colorado, which saw 12 students and a teacher murdered.

He repeatedly spoke about doing the same at his own Edinburgh secondary, describing the ‘Doomsday’ when he would ‘clear it out’.

A police investigation was sparked in the summer of 2023 after a social media photo of him at school in full combat gear with an imitation gun caused panic among pupils and parents.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, previously plead guilty to a breach of the peace and a charge under the Terrorism Act.

On Friday, he appeared for sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow, where his defence lawyer asked the judge to hand him a ‘rigorous and lengthy’ community sentence.

His defence KC Shelagh McCall previously asked the fact that the teenager is ‘a transgender person’ to ‘be taken into account’.

But judge Lord Arthurson refused her request, saying there are too many ‘red flags’ surrounding the boy’s behaviour. 

A SWAT team march to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999

School shooter Dylan Klebold practices shooting a gun at a makeshift shooting range

He instead refused bail and ordered an independent risk assessment.

He said: ‘The red flags in these matters cause me significant concern and I am not satisfied about the route asked for by senior counsel.

‘I take a serious view of the gravity of the circumstances and I will adjourn for the preparation of a specific independent risk assessment.’

The court previously heard how the teenager spoke to his peers about school shootings in America, plans to place bombs in his own school and using a 3D printer to make a gun.

Prosecutor Greg Farrell said that on June 20 2023, the boy had turned up at school wearing boots as well as cargo trousers and had brought with him a military tactical vest and helmet.

Mr Farrell: ‘He was later seen at the school carrying an imitation firearm while wearing the vest and helmet.

‘A photograph was circulated on social media. It was taken and published without his knowledge.

‘The image provoked a considerable degree of fear and alarm among pupils and parents.

‘Police were advised by a parent who saw the image.’

Officers went on to discover that the boy had a TikTok account which had footage of him in black combat clothes as well as a skeleton mask.

Mr Farrell added: ‘One piece of commentary referenced school shootings.’

It emerged the vest and helmet were part of a costume for a short film he had been involved in for a drama class.

Police, however, went on take statements from other pupils who knew the boy.

Mr Farrell said: “They provided information that the boy had exhibited a variety of alarming behaviours over a period of time.’

One girl said he ‘idolised school shooters in America’ including those who carried out the Colombine massacre and would copy how they dressed.

Mr Farrell: ‘In November 2022, he told her how he would go about carrying out a school attack.

‘He explained that he would start on the second floor and that he would “clear it out” using guns.

‘He would then move downstairs continuing to shoot until police arrived, at which point he would turn the gun on himself.’

The boy described a possible mass shooting at his school as ‘Doomsday’, would occur on April Fool’s Day or his last day of sixth year.

Mr Farrell added: ‘He spoke about setting up trip wires at fire exits and of placing “pipe bombs” at the school.’

The boy told other classmates he would buy a 3D printer to help construct a firearm, that he would ‘place a bomb in every second classroom’ and that he wanted to get a job in a gun shop and steal firearm parts ‘one by one’.

His phone was described as being full of photos and videos of shootings as well as others of Hitler and Nazi Germany.

A number of his electronic devices were seized. There were various files on a mobile phone including about ‘homemade’ firearms and poisons.

The court heard he had 65 videos of Columbine and a journal in which he fantasised about shooting and bombing.

The hearing was told the boy had previously been referred to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme in 2022 and 2023 due to concerns.

Miss McCall told the court that the boy was taught about mass shootings in America during his modern studies classes.

She said a professor who assessed her client said there was a ‘serious link between his autism and the behaviour at the time’.

She added that it was his autism rather than ‘radicalisation’ which led to his ‘topics of interest’ and that her client has made a ‘marked improvement’.

She said: ‘He has expressed regret and recognises that he didn’t previously appreciate how his behaviour was impacting on others.’

The matter will call again in June at the High Court in Kilmarnock.