Ohio middle school student who shot himself to death planned to carry out massacre
Jackson OH March 2 2018
An Ohio middle school student who shot himself to death in a school bathroom had plans to carry out a massacre, according to “disturbing documentation” on his cell phone.
Keith Simons, 13, expressed admiration for Columbine school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and said he wanted to leave “a lasting impression on the world,” in notes recovered from his cell phone, police said.
The memo indicates he had access to firearms, and also included an 8-step plan to shoot up the Jackson Memorial Middle School, Jackson Police Chief Mark Brink said in a news conference Thursday.
“I’ll look in to those scared little britches eyes before I kill them…now I’ll have followers because I’m so awesome,” he said.
“It’s going to be fun……They say school shootings are horrible but they don’t think like us like me Eric and Dylan….” he wrote.
Simons also said the shooting would be “bigger than anything this country’s ever seen.”
“I will never be forgotten I’ll be a stain in American history…it’s going to be so mutch fun,” he wrote.
“These documents show that Simons intended to conduct a school shooting and harm other individuals,” Brink said, as he discussed the timeline of events that took place on Feb. 20th.
Brink said the Simons boarded a school bus at around 7 a.m., was dropped off at school at 7:44 a.m., and entered a school bathroom at 7:46 a.m.
School faculty found him dead on the floor of the bathroom at around 7:50 a.m., Brink said.
An Ohio middle school student who shot himself to death in a school bathroom had plans to carry out a massacre, according to “disturbing documentation” on his cell phone. (BOB ROSSITER/AP)
“As you can see from that, Keith, when he got off the bus, he went directly to that bathroom,” Brink said.
Simons exited the bathroom with a gun, and was seen by students, but they didn’t notice the weapon.
He returned to the bathroom and committed suicide.
“Why he went back into the bathroom after he had come out holding the gun and then committed suicide we do not have an answer for and I don’t know that we will ever have an answer for that,” Brink said.
Another boy was in the bathroom with Simons—and told school officials what he had seen.
He wasn’t a part of Simons’ plan, though.
“Our investigation has not shown where anyone had any knowledge of this incident prior to it happening,” Brink said.
Brink said that an investigation into the incident was ongoing, and that an analysis of Simons’ electronic devices still needed to be completed.
