Bomb plot aimed for mass casualties

Kids are real messed up these days.

The Salt Lake Tribune
Tampa, Fla. • Tampa police have arrested an expelled student after thwarting what they deemed a potentially "catastrophic" plot to set off a bomb at his former high school and cause mass casualties on the first day of classes next week, authorities said Wednesday.

Police Chief Jane Castor said Jared Cano, 17, had threatened to plant a bomb at Freedom High School in north Tampa and detonate the device when students return Tuesday.

The suspect was arrested Tuesday night after someone alerted police to the alleged plot.

Castor told a news conference that the alleged bombing plot was planned minute by minute and the intent was to cause more casualties than the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which resulted in 13 deaths before the two shooters killed themselves.

Castor said police and the school system "were probably able to thwart a potentially catastrophic event, the likes of which the city of Tampa has not seen, and hopefully never will."