Teenage girls 'planned Columbine massacre copycat attack' at high school ten miles away
The two 16-year-old have been charged in an adult court
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Investigators in the western state of Colorado believe two 16-year-old girls - at least one of them obsessed with the 1999 Columbine massacre - planned a copycat attack at their own school located just ten miles away.
Prosecutors this week charged the second of the two teenagers, formally accusing her of plotting the assault on classmates and staff at Mountain Vista High School, located in a suburb of Denver.
Brooke Higgins appeared in Douglas County District Court on Thursday, where she was charged with conspiracy to commit first degree murder. Her friend and alleged co-plotter, Sienna Johnson, was handed similar charges last week when she appeared in an adult court. Bail for both of them was set at $1m.
Reuters reported that both girls attended the school in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch and were arrested in December after two anonymous tips to authorities.
Prosecutor Mark Hurlbert said told the judge that Higgins was fascinated with the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, where two students shot dead a teacher and 12 students before killing themselves.
He said that the teenager wrote in a journal that she wished she could have taken part in that massacre and took a photograph of herself outside Columbine High.
She also searched online for how a juvenile could buy firearms and told a friend she would warn her to stay away from the school when the attack was about to take place, he said.
Last week, prosecutors said a journal was seized from Sienna Johnson in which she had allegedly drawn a map of the school and recorded the movements of security officers.
She had also allegedly taken steps to acquire firearms and had gone target shooting with a pellet gun. She had also written poetry and macabre drawings.
“I feel very stranded and alone,” she wrote in one entry. On the same page she reportedly highlighted the words “They’re still after you.”
Dagny Van Der Jagt a lawyer for Brooke Higgins, issued a statement distancing her from the other school girl.
She said: “The girls were casual school acquaintances who had associated with each other for a brief time.”
She added: “They have different backgrounds, personalities, motivations and behaviours.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments