Two teens admitted Wednesday they made a criminal threat(s) in connection with planning a mass shooting at South Pasadena High School last year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
The two teens, now 18 and 17, appeared in Pasadena Juvenile Court and each admitted to one felony count of criminal threats. They were ordered to be placed home on probation.
Prosecutors said the defendants talked last August about carrying out a shooting at their high school. The pair shared their plans with another teen and later threatened to kill the teen, prosecutors said.
Police learned initially of the plot by a concerned citizen who alerted South Pasadena police of the threat last August. “They just wanted to kill as many people as possible,” he said. No weapons were found when the students were arrested, but the pair believed they had access to a firearm belonging to a relative, Miller said. The young men, who were in juvenile hall under arrest, discussed using automatic weapons, knives, bombs and wearing bulletproof vests, according to Chief Miller.
The case was investigated by the South Pasadena Police Department.