An 18-year-old high school student who identifies as transgender was arrested and charged over alleged plans to shoot up a Montgomery County, Maryland, school. The suspect had a 129-page manifesto in which the student strategized how to undertake the crime.
Andrea Ye, of Rockville, who goes by Alex Ye, was arrested on Wednesday by local Montgomery County Police; this follows an investigation carried out by local police in association with the FBI field office out of Baltimore. The manifesto was discovered after a search warrant was carried out.
“Ye was taken into custody and charged with threats of mass violence. He is currently being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit where he awaits a bond hearing,” read the news release from the Montgomery County Department of Police, referring to the female student as “he.”
The application for a statement of charges reportedly included parts of the manifesto. It read:
“I want to shoot up my school. I’ve been preparing for it for the past few months. As I sit in front of my dad’s gun case and stare at the sleek, black gun inside, all I can think about is my finger on the trigger, taking aim and killing people. The gun is an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. It’s the kind of gun with a long barrel and a stock you put up against your shoulder. The gun is going to change lives tomorrow.”
“As I walk through the hallways, I cherry-pick the classrooms that are the easiest targets. These are close to the entrance and have windows in the doors. I need to figure out how I’ll sneak the gun in. A duffel bag may work. I hope security doesn’t stop me.”
#BREAKING 18yo charged with threats of mass destruction. @mcpnews allege Andrea Ye, who prefers the name Alex and identifies as male, planned shootings at Wooten HS and Lakewood ES and detailed them in a manifesto. An 18 page charging doc includes a number of excerpts: pic.twitter.com/CDYEhI0CXJ
— Brad Bell (@Brad7News) April 18, 2024
It further read:
“Though I enjoy the hunting aspect of guns, I have contemplated making bombs. The instructions to make them are surprisingly available online. I could build one with a pressure cooker and remote control car. Or I could make chemical weapons [by] mixing ammonia and bleach. The problem with that is that it would require a gas mask, and bombs are time-consuming to build.”
“I have also considered shooting up my former elementary school because little kids make easier targets. And, I [risk] getting attacked or tackled midway through with high schoolers. Also, [I wouldn’t say I] liked elementary school. The teachers were evil, and the other students were little assholes. I always got in trouble and had to sit out during recess. The other kids would pretend to be my friends but make fun of me to my face. It would be the perfect revenge.”
“High school’s the best target. I’m the most familiar with the layout; I know where the doors with windows are, and it’s the most convenient to enter. Truthfully, I would rather become a serial killer than a mass shooter. Serial killers are romanticized a lot more.
They get tons of love letters and Netflix documentaries about them. Mass shooters are brushed off unless they are truly unique or good-looking.”
“It’d be hard to tell me apart from the hundreds of other Asian guys at my school in a police lineup. My school is mostly Asian and white. It’s in upper-middle-class Rockville. It’s a suburban city in Maryland where almost everyone goes to college.”
“I pace around my room like an evil mastermind. I’ve put so much effort into this; it has to go well. I don’t bother posting cheesy ‘Don’t go to school tomorrow if you value your life’ posts for my hundreds of Instagram followers. The last thing I want is to get reported and get a SWAT team sent to my home. I picture the news stories. Deranged killer slays 17. There were no signs, [but it] says family and school. Twenty dead, fifteen injured at Rockville school. I plan on shooting myself once the police get there, so I will never be able to see the news stories. I am pretty scared. What if I fail at killing myself and live the rest of my life disabled and serving a life sentence? Maryland doesn’t even have the death penalty, which would be preferable in my opinion.”
“Millions of people die each day of cancer, old age, etc., and it’s no big deal. But shoot someone, and suddenly, everyone is all concerned. The news reports on it, and protests for gun control happen. Nobody can escape death in the end. Why does it matter who delivers the final blow? It would bring me a lot of joy and satisfaction to kill, so it’s kind of worth it, in a way.”
“There’s a newspaper announcing a new mass shooting at an elementary school. The kill count isn’t very high. I could probably beat it. My ultimate goal would be to set the world record for the most amount of kills in a shooting. If I have enough time, I’ll try to decapitate my victims with a knife to turn the injuries into deaths.”
In addition to plans to shoot up a high school, Ye also wrote about potential plans to shoot up an elementary school, indicating that this was part of a yearning to be famous. Another trans school shooter, Audrey Hale, did become famous after murdering three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. Hale also left behind a manifesto. However, the fate of those documents is in the hands of the courts.
The search of Ye’s belongings also uncovered internet searches, drawings, and further documents about massive violence.
A press conference will be held on Friday.
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