This is a list of unsuccessful or foiled attacks related to schools.
Foiled or exposed plots
Date Location NameDescription Detroit, Michigan, United States Unknown student A 12-year-old boy was arrested in the parking lot of Roosevelt Elementary School while carrying a revolver. He had allegedly threatened to shoot his teacher for sending him home early. Lincoln, Nebraska, United States Arthur McElroy A 43-year-old graduate student, Arthur McElroy, walked into an actuarial science class at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and attempted to open fire on about 20 students with a .30-caliber M1 carbine. As students reacted by hitting the floor and pulling desks over their heads in anticipation, the gun jammed, and McElroy was apprehended. A court later found McElroy insane. He was taken to the Lincoln Regional Center's Forensic Mental Services unit in December 1992. In May 2015, a Lancaster County district judge announced plans for McElroy's release to a local nursing home after declaring McElroy to no longer be a threat to himself or others.May 14, 1996Brigham City, Utah, United StatesJustin Allgood15-year-old Justin Allgood of Brigham City boarded the Bingham Middle School Bus with a .357 Magnum and demanded the bus driver get off the bus. When she refused, he shot her in the leg, and then she got off. He went on a high-speed chase throughout the neighborhood with police before dying by a self-inflicted gunshot. The motivation was speculated to be over the loss of his close friends in a car accident before his attack. Burlington, Wisconsin, United States5 unknown Five students were arrested the morning they were planning to attempt a mass school shooting at Burlington High School. Police were notified the previous week of the impending plot and met the Sunday before to plan the arrests. None of the guns were confiscated from the student's parents. Two of the students were held on prior convictions. Notus, Idaho United StatesShawn Cooper Shawn Cooper, 15, entered Notus Junior-Senior High School with a shotgun he wrapped in a blanket and carried from home on the school bus during a manic episode. He fired 2 shots that narrowly missed people before being detained. Port Huron, Michigan, United StatesUnknown A 12-year-old, 13-year-old, and two 14-year-olds, all boys, planned to hold up a gun store and then attack Holland Woods Middle School. Once there, they planned to rape some of the girls and shoot as many as 154 targets that they had drawn up on a list. They had stolen a building plan from the custodian's office but they were all caught within a day of a classmate's report to an assistant principal. Cupertino, California, United States Al DeGuzman De Anza College student Al DeGuzman planned a Columbine-style school shooting at the school. An employee at a Longs Drugs store developed pictures of DeGuzman posing with his guns and homemade bombs. She and a coworker called the police. DeGuzman was arrested when he returned for his photos. Police searched DeGuzman's bedroom and found several shotguns and rifles, nearly 1000 rounds of ammunition, homemade bombs and a map of De Anza College, marked with locations where bombs would be placed.De Anza College Bloodbath Foiled - Photo Clerk Calls Cops. Sfgate.com (2001-01-31). Retrieved on 2010-08-16. In October 2002, DeGuzman was sentenced to seven years in state prison. He later committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell on August 4, 2004. Elmira, New York, United States Jeremy Getman Jeremy Getman, 18, planned a school attack at Southside High School, but it was foiled after students told a teacher that he was carrying weapons. He carried 14 pipe bombs, three smaller bombs, a propane tank, a sawed-off shotgun, and a .22 caliber pistol into the school by a duffel bag and also a book bag full of ammunition. On December 17, 2001, he was sentenced to 8½ years. Malcolm, Nebraska, United States Joshua Magee 17-year-old Joshua Magee was arrested in the parking lot of Malcolm High School after a school staff member, who saw the youth drinking liquor and putting on a black overcoat, called the police. A search of Magee's car produced a bolt-action rifle, 20 bombs, and a note stating that he wanted to injure everyone at the school except for three friends. Magee, to whom the school paid close attention after it was reported to faculty that he was experimenting with explosives at home, was charged with attempted murder.March 14, 2006Reno, Nevada, United StatesJames Newman2006 Pine Middle School shooting occurred when 14-year-old James Newman entered Pine Middle School with a 38-caliber revolver and shot two students, but there were no fatalities. In an interview, Newman reported extensively researching Columbine High School massacre before his attack. Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States Shawn Ryan Sturtz and William Charles Cornell Two 17-year-old boys were arrested on the morning of Sept. 14 at Green Bay East High School for allegedly planning an armed attack on their school. Authorities said they found suicide notes at the homes of both Shawn Ryan Sturtz and William Charles Cornell. The following items were also found at Cornell's home: handmade explosives; bbs; gunpowder; toilet paper tubes and firecrackers; six one-quart jars of napalm; nine long guns, including rifles and shotguns; one handgun; walkie-talkies; numerous pellet guns; hundreds of rounds of ammunition; and mannequin heads that may have been used for target practice. In total, 110 items were seized. Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, United States Dillon Cossey14-year-old Dillon Cossey was arrested at his home in Plymouth Meeting after a friend told police about his plan to carry out a Columbine-style attack on Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. After a police-conducted search of the Cossey residence, officers found a 9 mm Hi-Point carbine, which he named "Reb" in honor of Eric Harris, over 30 airsoft guns, a dozen knives and swords, seven homemade explosives, four which were live, a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook, and several movies about the Columbine High School Massacre, all which were in the boy's bedroom. A .22 rifle and a .22 pistol, which were lent to another acquaintance for safekeeping, were also recovered by authorities. However, no ammunition turned up in the search, so investigators have concluded that the threat of an attack was not imminent. Even on Cossey's MySpace page, he discussed his admiration for the bank robbers of the North Hollywood shootout as well as for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine gunmen. In his trial, Cossey confessed that he was going to carry out his shooting to kill the people who had relentlessly bullied him in elementary and middle school. Bullying led his parents to pull him out of public school at the end of his 7th-grade year and home-school him. It was later found that he also had contact with Pekka-Eric Auvinen, the perpetrator of the Jokela school shooting, though Cossey did not know of Auvinen's plans. Cossey served time in juvenile detention and could have possibly stayed until the age of 21. His mother, Michelle Cossey, faced charges for purchasing the weapons and other charges regarding the welfare of her son.Police: Teen Planning 'Columbine-Like' Attack Had Weapons Cache, NBC (October 12, 2007) Mishawaka, Indiana, United States Russell Frantom16-year-old Russell Frantom was arrested after a notebook retrieved from his locker at Penn High School stated, "I wanna break the current shooting record. I wanna get instant recognition." He and a 33-year-old possible accomplice, Lee Billi, were charged with conspiracy. Lee Billi was sentenced to 10 years in prison on March 26, 2009.Boy wrote of desire to kill many at Indiana school AP news Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States Richard Yanis 15-year-old Richard Yanis was arrested for plotting a school shooting at Pottstown High School after his father reported to police three missing handguns. An investigation revealed that Yanis had stolen the guns from his father and put them into a duffel bag, which he handed to a friend with the words to "hold onto it". After checking the bag, Yanis' friend told his mother of the weapons, who then forced him to get rid of them by throwing them into a river. After his arrest, Yanis admitted that he had planned to shoot people at his school he didn't like, before committing suicide.Student charged with school shooting plot asks for juvenile court trial, The Pottstown Mercury (December 24, 2008)School Attack Plot Thwarted In Pa., CBS News (December 10, 2008) Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, United StatesUnknownAn eighth-grade student who attended St. Andrew School in Drexel Hill was arrested after a fellow pupil he attempted to recruit for an attack tipped off authorities. The suspect was then pulled from class and later arrested. Shortly after, two airsoft pistols were found in his backpack, one of them looking very much like a real gun. The 13-year-old student had planned to force the school into lockdown and shoot anybody who tried to escape. He is charged with terroristic threats and reckless endangerment and is currently held in juvenile detention. He is also charged with burglary for stealing $370 from another school in Drexel Hill on the previous weekend. It is noted that the suspect has a history of mental illness.6abc.com and Action News: Police: Student tried to recruit for attack|6abc.com . Abclocal.go.com (2009-03-11). Retrieved on 2010-08-16. Attleborough, Norfolk, EnglandUnknown 16-year-old studentA 16-year-old student posted a threat on the website Newgrounds stating that he would go to Attleborough High School (currently named Attleborough Academy) with a gas canister, set fire to the building and commit other acts of violence. A Newgrounds user from Montreal, Quebec, Canada notified English authorities via Skype after seeing the threat. The student was found carrying a knife, matches, and a plastic gas canister containing flammable liquid, and was arrested for threats to commit criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon, to which he admitted. He was then held under the Mental Health Act.Burns, John F.6abc.com In Canada, Helping Avert Attack on a British School. New York Times, March 20, 2009.Montreal student sounds alert over planned U.K. school attack. CBC.ca, March 20, 2009.Teenager arrested after internet tip-off about planned school attack. The Telegraph, August 17, 2009. Monroe, New York, United StatesUnknown 15-year-oldA 15-year-old boy from Monroe was already on juvenile probation when he broke down crying as he admitted he stockpiled bottles of gasoline, makeshift fuses, a torch, a machete, and three tanks of propane in a plot to attack former fellow students at Monroe-Woodbury High School.Teen accused of plotting attack at Monroe-Woodbury on Columbine anniversary. recordonline.com. Retrieved on 2010-08-16. Beauvais, FranceUnknown 13-year-old A 13-year-old boy, who was said to have had difficulties at his school, was arrested in Beauvais, accused of having planned to shoot his teachers. His parents had called the police after they found their son acting strangely and a gun missing. When the boy, armed with a hunting rifle and 25 cartridges, arrived at the school, it was already surrounded by police, so he dropped his plans, left the rifle in a field, and went to an Internet café in the city. That day, a parent-teacher meeting was scheduled to discuss his future at the school, and it was suspected that he wanted to prevent this meeting from taking place. He also wrote in a blog the evening before that this was the last day of his life. The 13-year-old was later taken into custody and later hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation.Police foil teenager's plan to shoot teachers, RFI (November 18, 2009)French boy leaves home for school 'intending to shoot teachers', The Telegraph (November 18, 2009) Littleton, Colorado, United States Bruco Eastwood Bruco Eastwood entered Deer Creek Middle School and shot