Details Emerge in Florida School Bomb Plot
Tampa police allege 17-year-old planned violent attack on former high school
A friend of the teen accused of plotting a bomb attack on a Florida high school, told MyFoxTampaBay.com that the suspect had spoken of "another Columbine" during puzzling conversations about current events.
Nicolette French, 17, described the teen as "kind of off," and she recalled conversations with him in which he would randomly begin talking about “news that there was another Columbine thing going on at Tampa Bay Tech, or one of those other schools,” MyFoxTampaBay.com reported.
She said she would just go along with what he said, but after learning about the alleged plot against Freedom High School, the conversations took on new meaning.
"I guess he was trying to put that idea, maybe throwing it out there for me to catch on to," she said.
The suspect was arrested Tuesday after police searched his home and found materials to make pipe bombs and a detailed manifesto that illustrated how he planned to attack on the first day of class at Freedom High School in Tampa, officials said.
He “wanted to do something that was more spectacular than Columbine,” officials said, referring to the 1999 Colorado school shooting that killed 13.
French described him as quiet, someone who feels things more strongly than other teens.
FoxNews.com is withholding the teen's name while the state attorney general's office decides to charge him as an adult or minor. A spokesman said it would likely be determined within a few weeks.
Tuesday’s arrest was not the first time the teen had a run-in with police. He’s been arrested several times, most recently accused of breaking into a house and stealing a handgun, Tampa police said. He had a court-ordered curfew and was on a police watch list. Officers checked up on him from time to time.
In addition to bomb plot charges, he is accused of having a marijuana-growing operation, police said.
His Facebook page may offer insight into his personality. The page says he attends the "University of Marijuana," where he is studying "how to grow weed." The page also includes photos of him holding a machete and drinking from a bottle of malt liquor.
He lists two favorite quotes as "lessons not learned in blood are soon forgotten" and "dont trust anybody, cuz they all just wait for you to s--- a brick of gold so they can take it." He listed just 25 friends, and no one who was out around his apartment complex seemed to know him.
On Tuesday morning, the suspect posted: "i jut did the dumbest thing ever!"
Click here for more on this story from MyFoxTampaBay.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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