A Maryland high school student has been charged with planning to carry out a school shooting, after authorities discovered a journal where he’d set out his intentions in detail and said he wanted to be famous.
Authorities discovered a 129-page document they say was written by 18-year-old Alex Ye, the Montgomery County Department of Police said in a news release Thursday.
Authorities learned of the writings following an exchange Ye had via Instagram messaging with an unidentified person who felt a school shooting was “imminent,” according to the teenager’s arrest warrant. The unidentified person knew Ye from an inpatient treatment at a local psychiatric facility, the warrant says.
Ye referred to the writings as “his memoir,” which begins with a disclaimer that it is a work of fiction, the arrest warrant says.
“In the document, Ye writes about committing a school shooting, and strategizes how to carry out the act.
Ye also contemplates targeting an elementary school and says that he wants to be famous,” police said in the news release.
A search warrant obtained by investigators “led to internet searches, drawings and documents related to threats of mass violence.”
The police department said it was notified by the FBI about Ye’s alleged writings, which prompted a joint investigation by the two agencies.
Ye is being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, where he is being held without bond until his scheduled June 3 trial.
Mass violence is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said during a Friday news conference.
CNN has reached out to an attorney for Ye.
