2 Texas teenage girls in custody after FBI, police disrupt possible 'mass casualty' school plot
The FBI became aware on Tuesday of threats that were communicated involving two teenage girls, ages 15 and 16, plotting what the FBI called a “mass casualty attack” using pipe bombs and guns targeting Memorial High School in Harris County, Texas, according to law enforcement sources.
The threats were specific and deemed concerning enough that the FBI threat mitigation team moved quickly.
At around 2:45 p.m. (CST) the FBI called local law enforcement partners in Montgomery County, Harris County and Spring Branch Independent School District, who simultaneously worked to locate the girls.
By 3:15 p.m., just 30 minutes after the FBI call, both girls were located and in custody, law enforcement sources said.
“I got the call from the FBI agent that we worked very closely with, provided me with the information that they deemed credible, as did I, immediately located the student, found exactly where she was and went to the school, and that's when we detained her and began our interview process,” Spring Branch ISDF Chief Larry Baimbridge told ABC News.
Baimbridge said in this case, the system worked.
“This is a perfect example of state and federal law enforcement working together. This is exactly how this information, I think, should be handled and I’m grateful to the FBI that got us information right away and we were able to act on it very quickly,” Baimbridge told ABC News.
“This planned attack wouldn't have been stopped without exceptionally close partnerships between FBI Houston, Spring Branch ISD Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, and Houston Police Department,” FBI Houston spokesman Connor Hagan said in a statement.
“We were able to take troubling information we received, conduct a rapid investigation, turn our results over to trusted local law enforcement partners, and ultimately save lives of innocent students,” Hagan said. "This type of situation is exactly why the FBI exists.”
The 16-year-old girl who is a student at Memorial High School is being held on a charge of making a terroristic threat, Baimbridge said.
The other student, a 15-year-old, is in custody in Montgomery County on an unrelated charge, according to a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office statement.
No firearms, bombs or bomb making materials were immediately recovered in Harris County, though the investigation is ongoing in both Harris and Montgomery Counties.
Last week, the FBI worked with police in Mooresville, Indiana to disrupt a possible mass shooting plot against a high school there after learning of threats posted online.
Said Hagan: "We have officers from dozens of local agencies embedded with our agents working these types of threats every day on our Threat Mitigation Team and other task forces. FBI agents and task force officers, who are federally deputized, are absolutely essential to keeping our communities safe."
