Pennsylvania school shooting was planned for the Columbine anniversary
[April 14, 2025]
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man remained jailed on Sunday
after being accused by authorities of planning a mass school shooting
for later this month that would have coincided with the anniversary of
the Columbine High School massacre.
Police allege Braeden Phillips, 20, had planned to commit a mass
shooting at State College High School in Central Pennsylvania on April
21, one day after the 26th anniversary of the deadly Columbine High
School shooting, according to a criminal complaint.
Police allege Phillips had compiled a “hit list” and that the shooting
would have taken place at around 8:40 a.m. — a high traffic time for
students and staff — near the school’s main staircase. Officials cited
in the complaint allege that Phillips planned to place bombs in the
school bathrooms.
Two teenage boys went on a killing rampage at Columbine High School in
suburban Denver on April 20, 1999. They shot and killed 12 classmates
and a teacher, and wounded two dozen others before taking their own
lives.
Phillips has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful
possession of a firearm. He was being held without bond at the Centre
County Correctional Facility because he was deemed an “extreme danger to
the community,” according to court records.
Court records did not list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
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Police were trying to determine if anyone else was involved in the
plan. Authorities allege Phillips said a juvenile friend of his also
was going to take part in the shooting.
“State College Police would like to recognize that the success of
this investigation would not have been possible without the initial
report made by a concerned citizen. This illustrates the importance
of ‘see something, say something,’” police said in a statement.
Authorities were first alerted to the plot by staff members at a
Centre County youth center, who told police a resident had shared
information about it. Police interviewed Phillips' friends and
others, who told investigators that Phillips detailed how he planned
to carry out the shooting and showed them a handgun.
When police asked if Phillips had any issues or past grievances with
State College High School, a friend said Phillips had told him, “the
school did not serve his educational needs and failed him,”
according to the complaint.
Police allege Phillips initially planned to carry out the shooting
on April 20, which would have been the 26th anniversary of the
Columbine shooting, but that he changed the date because April 20
falls on a Sunday this year.
Phillips was set to have a preliminary court hearing on Wednesday.
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