It has been discovered that an Ohio middle school student who shot himself to death in a school bathroom had plans to carry out a massacre.
According to “disturbing documentation” on his cell phone, Keith Simons, 13, expressed admiration for Columbine school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. In notes discovered on his cell phone, he said he wanted to leave “a lasting impression on the world,” police said.
In a news conference on Thursday, Jackson Police Chief Mark Brink said memo on the boy’s phone indicates he had access to firearms, and also included an 8-step plan to shoot up the Jackson Memorial Middle School.
“I’ll look into those scared little britches eyes before I kill them…now I’ll have followers because I’m so awesome,” the boy wrote.
“It’s going to be fun……They say school shootings are horrible but they don’t think like us like me Eric and Dylan….” he wrote.
Simons also said the shooting would be “bigger than anything this country’s ever seen.”
“I will never be forgotten I’ll be a stain on American history…it’s going to be so much fun,” he wrote.
As Police Chief Brink discussed the timeline of events that took place on Feb. 20th, he said: “These documents show that Simons intended to conduct a school shooting and harm other individuals.”
Brink said the Simons boarded a school bus at around 7 a.m., was dropped off at school at 7:44 a.m., and entered a school bathroom at 7:46 a.m. School faculty found him dead on the floor of the bathroom at around 7:50 a.m.
“As you can see from that, Keith, when he got off the bus, he went directly to that bathroom,” Brink said.
Simons exited the bathroom with a gun and was seen by students, but they didn’t notice the weapon. He then returned to the bathroom and committed suicide.
“Why he went back into the bathroom after he had come out holding the gun and then committed suicide we do not have an answer for and I don’t know that we will ever have an answer for that,” Brink said.
Another boy, who had been in the bathroom with Simons but wasn’t a part of Simons’ plan, told school officials what he had seen.
Brink said: “Our investigation has not shown whether anyone had any knowledge of this incident prior to it happening.”
Brink said that an investigation into the incident was ongoing and that an analysis of Simons’ electronic devices still needed to be completed.
