4 California teens arrested in 'very detailed' high school shooting plot


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Four teenagers were arrested Friday after police uncovered a plot to shoot and kill students and teachers at a Tuolumne, California, high school, officials said.
Tuolumne County Sheriff James Mele did not name the four male Summerville High School students, and they have not been charged. Mele said that students at the Northern California school heard the suspects talking about the shooting last week, and notified staff members, who then called the sheriff's office. "Detectives located evidence verifying a plot to shoot staff and students at Summerville High School," he said. "The suspects' plan was very detailed in nature and included names of would-be victims, locations, and the methods in which the plan was to be carried out."
Mele said that the suspects were in the process of securing weapons, NBC News reports, and "pretty doggone close" to being able to carry out the plot. "I have no idea why somebody or a group of individuals would want to do this," he said, before adding, "Cyber-bullying is a problem in our society. I think children today have a hard time trying to understand what is reality and what is fiction."
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A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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