Three people, including two minors, have been arrested after police said they planned to carry out a shooting at a Georgia high school.
Police in Canton, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, said on Oct. 27 that it began investigating the plot to commit the shooting at Cherokee High School earlier this month after the FBI discovered "threatening social media posts" and alerted law enforcement with the Cherokee County School District Police.
The Canton Police Department began its investigation Oct. 19, and identified a suspect in Canton connected to the online threats, the department said. That suspect, a minor whose identity and age have not been released, was arrested on conspiracy to commit murder and disruption or interference with the operation of
public schools.
Police also found two other suspects involved in the plot to commit a shooting. A 17-year-old from Metter, Georgia, which is more than 200 miles from Canton; and Michael Brandon Terry, 21, of Chatsworth, California, were arrested. Terry was taken into custody by the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department and is awaiting transport to Georgia, police said. Both face charges of conspiracy to commit murder.
An attorney for the 17-year-old, whom USA TODAY is not naming because he is a minor, declined to comment when reached on Oct. 28. It wasn't immediately clear if Terry had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
USA TODAY has reached out to authorities for more information on the investigation and how the suspects knew each other.
Police said firearms, ammunition and electronic devices were all seized in the investigation.
Authorities haven't identified any ongoing threat to Cherokee High School or any other school in the district, the Canton Police Department said. The department asked parents to teach their children the importance of reporting threats.
"The safety of our students and school staff is a top priority, and we take every threat seriously," Canton Police Chief Marty Ferrell said.
Representatives from the Cherokee County School District didn't immediately respond to an inquiry from USA TODAY.
The arrests in Georgia come after police in Southern California announced they arrested two teens on similar charges and accused them of spending months plotting a shooting against a high school earlier this month. The girls, both 15, had a list of names they planned to target and maps of the school, but hadn't obtained any weapons, police told USA TODAY. They appeared to be motivated by an element of revenge.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 3 arrested, including minors, for school shooting plot, police say
