Teen pleads guilty in shooting plot

The teen admitted that he had planned ‘to kill other human beings.’

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A teenager pleaded guilty Wednesday to planning a Columbine-style attack on his suburban high school.

St. Joseph County Probate Magistrate Harold Brueseke asked the teen during the 10-minute hearing if his intent in planning the attack had been “to kill other human beings?”

“Yes,” replied the 16-year-old, who was charged with a juvenile count of conspiracy to commit murder. Brueseke said the teenager should remain in custody.

According to court documents unsealed in Ohio last week — where a man also faces charges — authorities seized a black spiral notebook from the boy’s locker at Penn High School outside Mishawaka that contained handwritten entries in which he expressed hatred toward classmates.

“I wanna break the current shooting record. I wanna get instant recognition. The only thing that stops me is the fact of being put in jail forever, or having to kill myself, or getting killed by an officer. I could kill anyone without feeling sorry because society sucks!!!” read an entry dated April 18, the day before he was arrested.

The teenager’s attorney, James Nafe, said after the hearing Tuesday that his client knows nothing about the notebook.

Deputy prosecutor Eric Tamashasky declined comment on the notebook or other documents released in Ohio, where Lee Billi, 33, of suburban Cleveland, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, 38 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and one count of possessing criminal tools.

A message regarding the plea was left after hours Wednesday with the Cuyahoga County public defender’s office, which is representing Billi.

The plans to attack Penn High School were uncovered by a deputy sheriff working at the school investigating an unrelated threat. He discovered postings on an Internet site in which the teenager discussed his support for the “Columbine shooters,” a reference to the 1999 massacre at a suburban Denver high school in which two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide.

Authorities have accused the teen and Billi of writing about researching how to obtain weapons and make explosive devices. The teenager asked for help in obtaining a TEC-DC9 9mm pistol, stating it would be “awesome” if he could use the same weapon used in the Columbine shootings.