Taylor, Terry and juvenile suspect chose Aug. 20, warrants say
Three people were arrested in an alleged plot to carry out a shooting at Cherokee High School in Canton, Georgia, according to arrest warrants and police. The school is in Canton, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Atlanta. The arrests involve Shane Keith Taylor, 17, Michael Brandon Terry, 21, and a juvenile suspect whose name and age police did not release.
Arrest warrants say the three had gotten a floor plan of the school and chose next Aug. 20 to carry out the shooting, a couple of weeks after the first day of school on Aug. 2. The targeted date therefore fell early in the next school year, shortly after classes were set to begin.
Taylor and Terry had reached an agreement with the juvenile suspect to provide weapons, according to the warrants. The suspects planned outfits and discussed buying body armor, video cameras and combat boots.
The FBI identified “threatening social media posts” and notified school police, who then contacted the Canton Police Department. Police said they determined the juvenile suspect’s identity, learned that the person lived in Canton and was connected to the threats, and arrested the juvenile on Oct. 20.
Taylor and Terry were arrested Oct. 23. Taylor lives in Metter, Georgia, 240 miles (386 kilometers) southeast of Canton, while Terry lives in Chatsworth, California. Terry was awaiting transfer from California to Cherokee County. It was not clear what connection, if any, Terry had to Georgia, or how the suspects might have known one another.
Police said all three suspects were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The juvenile suspect was also accused of disrupting or interfering with the operation of public schools.
A lawyer for Taylor, who is considered an adult under Georgia criminal law, said he had just gotten the case and did not have a comment. It was not immediately clear whether Terry had a lawyer, and The Associated Press could not immediately locate contact information for him.
Investigators collected guns, ammunition and electronic devices as evidence, police said. Police said no ongoing threat to Cherokee High School or any other school in Cherokee County had been identified, and the investigation remained active.
Cherokee County School District Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis posted a video message online Tuesday to reassure parents. “The mere thought of a school threat, let alone hearing of an alleged conspiracy to carry one out, is honestly devastating, and, like you, I have experienced the range of emotions that follow this type of news,” Davis said.
Davis added that law enforcement agencies working together had “completely disrupted” the alleged plot. She said knowing that the processes in place worked the way they were supposed to was “reassuring.”