Gerrard Kaonga
A school in Indiana may have just avoided a school shooting after a tipster raised the alarm over their friend.
Police in Indiana say they have arrested 18-year-old Trinity Shockley following fears she would commit a mass shooting at her high school on Valentine's Day.
She was arrested just days after authorities uncovered the alleged plot to shoot up Mooresville High School, located southwest of Indianapolis.
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The tipster informed the FBI that they believed their friend was planning the attack and had access to an AR-15 rifle as well as a bulletproof vest.
The tipper also revealed that Shockley was obsessed with Nikolas Cruz, the mass murderer who shot and killed 14 students and three staff members at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School back in February 2018.
When police raided Shockley’s home, they also found posters dedicated to other mass shooters. The was reportedly photos of Cruz; Dylan Roof, who killed nine people at a South Carolina church in 2015; and Andrew Blaze, who killed three people at a Pennsylvania grocery store in 2017.
When questioned by investigators, Shockley claimed that she was ‘joking’ about her plans. However, in messages sent to the tipster that were later revealed, she had said: “I’ve been planning this for a YEAR”.
Shockley’s social media posts also contained photos of the gun magazines as well as flattering messages about Cruz and Roof. Authorities have also said there were threats to carry out a school shooting.
The suspect is currently being held without bond, and stands accused of conspiracy to commit murder, threat to commit terrorism, and conspiracy to commit intimidation.
Mooresville Police Detective Matthew McDaniel, who got information from the school, has spoken about the suspect and their mental health.
Court records indicate that Shockley had previously received mental health counseling since freshman year and had expressed suicide thoughts. However, the school never considered the issue ‘significant enough to cause intervention’.
McDaniel’s also stated that her father ‘would deny her access to the resources’ whenever the teenager ‘would try to receive mental health assistance’.
In the court documents, the detective said: “It was [the school's] understanding that Mr. Shockley did not believe in mental health treatment and did not take his daughter's conditions seriously."
Shockley had also told investigators that she had been bullied for years at the school, most notably after being involved in an incident that saw her struck by a drunk driver while she was waiting for the school bus back in 2022.