In a chilling case that has shaken the community of upstate New York, three students have been arrested in connection with a foiled school shooting plot. One of the accused had allegedly penned a disturbing manifesto detailing plans to enact violence reminiscent of the tragedies at Columbine and Sandy Hook, as revealed by police reports.
Syracuse.com, referencing information from a recently disclosed police affidavit, reported that one of the young suspects had maintained a journal. This journal allegedly contained plans for a school shooting, motivated by a desire to retaliate against bullies. The student’s words captured the severity of her intentions: “Everyone and their pathetic little lives will be gone. I want to be remembered in the worst, most disturbing possible way.”
Following an urgent investigation over the weekend, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests of three teenagers: a 13-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, and a 14-year-old girl. Their swift apprehension was a result of collaborative efforts between law enforcement and school officials.
Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol addressed the media alongside County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. and Clinton Superintendent Christopher Clancy at a press conference. The briefing, held on April 13, 2026, at the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office in Oriskany, underscored the gravity of the situation and the community’s relief over the averted tragedy.
The alarming plot came to light on April 11 when authorities were alerted to the students’ intentions to execute a copycat attack in the Clinton Middle School cafeteria on Friday, April 17. The revelation has triggered a broader conversation about school safety and the measures necessary to prevent such threats in the future.
The department said in a release that authorities were called to Clinton Middle School on April 11 after discovering that the three students planned to carry out the copycat shooting on Friday, April 17 in the school’s cafeteria.
The two girls were both charged with aggravated threat of mass harm, a misdemeanor, Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol said. They were referred to the county probation department.
Deputies went to another home and secured multiple firearms, Maciol said. A 13-year-old boy there was charged with second-degree conspiracy, a felony, he said. He was released to a guardian with an appearance ticket to return to the county probation department.
The local outlet reported, citing the affidavit, that 11 rifles and ammunition were seized from a safe at the boy’s mother’s home in Kirkland, New York.
Deputies also interviewed a fourth teenager, who was determined not to be a suspect, Maciol said.
The exterior of Clinton Middle School in New York. According to police, three middle school students were planning on conducting a school shooting on April 17 in the school’s cafeteria. (Google Maps)
One of the girls who was arrested had recently become obsessed with the 1999 school shooting in Columbine, Colorado, her mother and another student told police, according to Syracuse.com.
The Columbine High School massacre, on April 20, 1999, claimed the lives of 13 students and one teacher.
The girl had also reportedly written messages and notes about Adam Lanza, the man who killed 20 children and six staff members in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.
Another student, the outlet said, showed police a SnapChat group chat formed by the suspects titled, “The Cal Gabriel Fan Club,” named after the fictional main character in the 2002 movie “Zero Day” about planning a school shooting.
Her recent web searches also included guns and infamous school shooters, the documents showed, according to Syracuse.com.
Columbine High School survivors hug; a man walks out a young boy following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. (H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY NETWORK | AP Photo)
Police asked anyone who has additional information regarding this investigation to contact the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Unit at 315-765-2226.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Clinton Central School District for comment.
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