Ever since the massacre at Columbine High School almost 14 years ago, the United States has faced a laundry list of murders at schools. There was the shooting at Virginia Tech that claimed over 30 lives, the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary that claimed 26, and almost, the Fort Colville Elementary assassination of a classmate.
Two boys from Fort Colville Elementary in northeast Washington are in custody after authorities uncovered their plot to rape and murder a female classmate of theirs, and possibly several others.
On Friday a judge ruled that the two boys, unnamed, were mentally mature enough to understand the nature and consequences of their actions. For that reason, they are fit to stand trial for conspiracy to commit murder, witness tampering and juvenile possession of a firearm.
Allegedly, on February 7 the two boys carried several concealed weapons onto their school bus on the way to Fort Coville Elementary. Among their arsenal was a knife, a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, and a full ammunition clip. Thankfully another student on the bus saw one of the weapons and immediately alerted school personnel.
The two boys were planning to murder their classmate because "she's rude and always made fun of me and my friends." The gun, however, was not the intended murder weapon.
"I was going to kill her with the knife and [10-year-old] was supposed to use the gun to keep anyone from trying to stop me or mess up our plan," the 11-year-old told police, enough to warrant probable cause.
As further evidence, the boys had written down a step-by-step plan for how they would carry out the execution. The boy planning on doing the killing also intended to rape the girl, according to prosecutor Tim Rasmussen. He also noted that the rape was not driven by sexual desire, but rather, was to be a display of power.
The boys are both being held on $100,000 bonds as mental health experts from both sides have determined that they pose a severe risk to their community. Though violence is always a possibility in today's society, it appears that school violence is a trend that is only increasing.
