Uvalde middle schoolers’ Columbine-style attack foiled by authorities in 2018: report

The school shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school was not the first time a Uvalde school was in the crosshairs of a mass shooter, coming four years after authorities foiled a plot to carry out a Columbine style attack against fellow students at Morales Junior High School.

Two Uvalde middle school students were arrested in 2018 for conspiracy to commit murder, with police saying the 13-year-old and 14-year-old were plotting what was described as a “mass casualty event against the school,” according to a May 2018 report from KENS 5.

Uvalde Chief of Police Daniel Rodriguez said the two teenagers were largely influenced by the Columbine High School attack, even referring to themselves by the names of the two shooters that carried out 1999 massacre.

“The investigation revealed that the students were infatuated with the Columbine High School shootings and identified themselves to the shooters. The investigation uncovered that the students even referred to themselves using the Columbine shooter’s names,” Rodriguez said at the time.

Investigators said the students wanted to carry out the attack years from when it was uncovered, with the duo planning to go through with it during their senior year in high school on the anniversary of the Columbine shooting. In addition to firearms, the teens planned to use IEDs during their attack. – READ MORE