OAN’s James Meyers
Updated 3:22 PM – Friday, April 19, 2024
A transgender Maryland high school student is facing charges over allegedly planning a school shooting in order to become famous, according to police.
The student is a biological woman who identifies as a transgender man. Her previous name was “Andrea.”
Alex Ye, 18, of Rockville, wanted to carry out two school shootings. Ye outlined those plans in a 129-page document that a tipster flagged to authorities, officials said on Thursday.
The 18-year-old was arrested Wednesday on a charge of threats of mass violence, the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) said in a statement on Thursday.
“In the document, Ye writes about committing a school shooting, and strategizes how to carry out the act. Ye also contemplates targeting an elementary school and says that he wants to be famous,” police said.
According to the charging documents, a witness, referred to as Witness-One, contacted Baltimore Police and said Ye sent an Instagram message about how “he just finished writing a book.” According to court documents, the 18-chapter book was a fictional story about a high school shooting.
The witness said that the book suggested that the shooting was going to take place “the next day,” and told police there were “striking similarities between the main character (James Wang) and Ye.”
In the writings, Ye explained that they wanted to attack their former elementary school because “little kids make easier targets” and also “strategized on how to access the easiest classrooms in his high school,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones told reporters in Gaithersburg on Friday.
“This situation highlights the critical importance of vigilance and community involvement in preventing potential tragedies,” Jones said, adding that “a potentially catastrophic event was prevented” by the brave witness and collaborative efforts by authorities.
Despite these chilling details, Ye expressed a real desire “to become a serial killer.”
“Ye also wrote that he wanted to become a serial killer instead of a mass murderer because serial killers are romanticized a lot more,” Jones added.
Meanwhile, police have been investigating Ye since March and only carried out the arrest due to the fear that the student might actually go through with the shooting.
“It’s not our goal to make an arrest in every case of a threat,” Jones said, adding that his agency has worked on 140 tips of possible school violence this academic year alone.
“But this case is different. This case is entirely different — that takes it to a different level. It was a concerned witness who brought this matter to light by reporting the suspect’s manifesto to authorities.”
Investigators also found search history, drawings and documents “related to mass threats of violence,” according to the statement.
The charging documents state that Ye was hospitalized in December 2022, for threatening to “shoot up a school.” Ye was also allegedly set for release in January 2023, however, it was determined that the teen was still preoccupied with explosives, self-harm, and school shootings.
Later, after an emergency evaluation, Ye was referred to a crisis center by a Wootton High School therapist after Montgomery Police learned about a purchased BB gun for the purpose of “suicide by cop.”
Ye was taken into custody and charged with threats of mass violence. The trans teen is currently being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, awaiting a bond hearing.
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