Toronto police are being credited with helping to track down a 16-year-old Arizona girl who was reportedly planning to shoot and kill her high school classmates before turning the gun on herself.
The girl is alleged to have posted the threat on a YouTube channel operated by a transgender community in Toronto.
According to a press release from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the owner of the channel then contacted Toronto Police, who located the girl and passed on the information to their counterparts in Arizona.
The girl, who lives in Mesa, Arizona, was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with computer tampering and threatening and intimidating.
“Sheriff’s detectives reacted quickly, and within three hours, using investigative techniques, were led to a home in Mesa,” the press release states. “Sheriff’s Detectives went to the home and questioned the girl in the presence of her parents and arrested the 16 year-old female after she admitted to posting the threat.”
Threat made reference to Newtown massacre
In the online threat, the girl reportedly makes reference to last week’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, saying that her attack had been in the works prior to that deadly shooting.
“I now literally have a plan of seriously hurting…killing…murdering people in my high school,” the press release from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office quotes the girl as saying. “I WORK (sic) at the high school as a student teacher basically…which is why no one can find out about me somewhat accidentally planning to blow up the school. (and yes… it would be super easy…)”
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, officers did search the girl’s home and located three guns.
Those weapons were released to the girl’s father for safe keeping.
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