Police nab Fla. teen after learning about shooting spree plan

School Violence Article

August 29, 2008

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Police nab Fla. teen after learning about shooting spree plan


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By Lisa A. Davis and Ronnie Blair
The Tampa Tribune

DADE CITY, Fla. — A 16-year-old boy accused of plotting to shoot up his school had a map that detailed his plans and access to guns that would have allowed him to carry them out, the Dade City Police Department reported Thursday.

The plot fell apart, though, when the teenager told one too many students about what he had in mind and word leaked to law enforcement officials, who moved quickly to make an arrest, police said.

"You just can't take any chances with something like this," police Chief Raymond Velboom said.

George Paul Adams, a student at Moore-Mickens Education Center, was arrested Wednesday at the school on felony charges of making written threats to kill or do bodily harm and disrupting a school function.

Police said he made threats on his MySpace page. The teenager also took a copy of the school's evacuation map from his fifth-period art class and used it to start mapping a plan for a shooting spree, his arrest report said.

Adams sketched arrows and staging areas on the map, indicating he planned to go from the school office to the cafeteria and then to multiple classrooms, police said.

"I really really hate everyone at school they mare sic me want to do wut sic I did last year but really kill," a blog posted Monday on his MySpace page states. His mood, according to the Web site: "enraged."

Adams, of 38610 Camden Ave., Zephyrhills, told authorities he wrote the comment on his Web page because he was angry for being held back a grade, the report states.

The teen, police said, told some students about his plot. Velboom said one of those students told his sister, and the sister contacted the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office then notified the Dade City Police Department, which immediately investigated, Velboom said.

Police found more than 28 firearms at Adams' home. Velboom said those weapons belong to Adams' grandfather and were kept in a locked gun cabinet. The cabinet door is glass. Accessing the guns would have been simple, the chief said.

Adams last used his MySpace page Wednesday, listing his mood as "depressed."

Velboom wouldn't say what Adams meant by his blog comment about what he "did last year," other than to say it referred to an incident at another school Adams attended before transferring to Moore-Mickens.

The chief praised the student and sister who were responsible for letting law enforcement know about Adams' comments. Velboom said students in such cases often are accused of being snitches, but in reality they are doing the right thing.

"It got into the right circles, and all the pieces came together, and it worked like it is supposed to work," Velboom said.

Steve Cox, principal at Moore-Mickens, declined to comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Moore-Mickens Education Center, at 38310 Martin Luther King Blvd., is part of the Pasco County School District and offers vocational, adult education, dropout prevention and other programs. The school has 337 students.

Copyright 2008 The Tampa Tribune

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