Student charged in Utah high school bomb plot; police continue investigation
Authorities on Friday charged an 18-year-old man with possession of a weapon of mass destruction after they say he and another teenager planned to bomb a Utah high school.
Dallin Morgan and a 16-year-old were arrested Wednesday at Roy High School, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, after police were alerted to the plot by a fellow student who received ominous text messages from one of the suspects.
“If I tell you one day not to go to school, make damn sure you and … are not there,” the message read, according to court records.
Authorities said the pair had detailed blueprints of the school and had planned to try to steal a plane at a nearby airport after their attack. The students told police they had been learning to fly on a flight simulator program on their home computers.
Investigators were trying to determine just how close the two suspects were to pulling off an attack they say was inspired by the deadly 1999 Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colo.
Authorities say the younger suspect visited the school last month to interview the principal about the shootings and security measures.
Morgan was released on bond, pending arraignment Wednesday. The 16-year-old, whom The Associated Press isn’t naming because he’s a minor, had been held at a juvenile facility but authorities declined to immediately say whether he remained in custody Friday.
The FBI is examining the suspects’ computers. Local and federal authorities searched the school, two vehicles belonging to the suspects and their homes but found no explosives.
The 16-year-old suspect’s father declined comment Friday, and no one answered the door at Morgan’s home.