Connetquot High School Plot

The Connetquot High School plot was a 15-year old boy's plan to kill students and staff at Connetquot High School in New York, on the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in 2007.^[1]

The teen's plans were uncovered after a black notebook containing the details of the massacre was found by staff at a local McDonald's where the teen had accidentally left it.

The teenager, Christopher Franko, Michael McDonough, entered a guilty plea July 31, 2007, in court. He originally was charged with fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor. He admitted planning to kill students and staff at the school.^[2]

Investigators began looking into the pair after finding a journal describing a plot to attack Connetquot High School with guns and explosives.

Police said they found notes referring to the April 20, 1999, attack at Colorado's Columbine High School, where two student gunmen killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves. They determined that the two Long Island teens had looked for ways to purchase weapons but never acquired any.

McDonough was charged as an adult with misdemeanor conspiracy, punishable by up to a year in jail, and is free on $50,000 bond. His court-appointed lawyer, Robert Flick, has said his client was "barely" culpable in the alleged plot.

The 15-year-old was sent to a children's psychiatric center while awaiting sentencing back in court Aug 21, 2007. His lawyer said that he was teased for living in a Trailer Park.^[3]

Two years later, Franko was stopped in a second plot to shoot people at Connetquot High School.^[4] On May 7, 2010 he and Dana Saltzman, a 16 year old girl he met at a special education school he attended after Connetquot, were arrested after Franko's social worker tipped off police that he and the girl might be planning to shoot up the school.

The two had attempted to purchase a shotgun but neither was 18 at the time. Franko had planned to return on June 8, 2010 - his 18th birthday - to buy the weapon. Police learned that the two intended to shoot security at the school on June 10th, then gun down as many students as they could before police would arrive. At that point they planned to have a shoot-out with the cops then commit suicide. Franko was held without bail till his June 8 court date and ordered to have no contact with anyone from Connetquot. Saltzman was released without bail with a court date set for June 17. Franko was later sentenced to 3-9 years in prison.^[5]

References

1. ^ Boy, 15, Pleads Guilty to School Plot
2. ^ Long Island teens nabbed in plot to bomb school, kill students and faculty
3. ^ Teen Who Plotted N.Y. School Rampage Was Teased for Living in a Trailer Park, Lawyer Says
4. ^ Dana Saltzman, Christopher Franko Arrested In Plot To Attack Long Island High School
5. ^ New York Teen Gets Prison For Plotting Columbine-Style School Attack