2 Held in School Killing Spree Plot

Two 14-year-old students accused of plotting a killing spree at their middle school were ordered held without bail Tuesday after a judge ruled there was enough evidence to support the charges.

Barrow County Juvenile Court Judge Currie Mingledorff’s decision came after a hearing that lasted more than three hours in Winder, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. The trial is scheduled for June 7.

Prosecutor Jennifer Curry said at the hearing that the boys -- identified in court only by their first names, Adam and Joseph -- told at least a dozen classmates that they planned to kill a math teacher and anyone who got in their way.

The motive, she said, was revenge for being disciplined by the teacher and bullied by classmates. But defense lawyers for the boys said the case has been blown out of proportion, and the boys never planned to kill anybody.

The boys are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, making terrorist threats and disruption of a public school.

The attack at Russell Middle School was supposed to happen on the last day of class, May 21. But classmates concerned by the boys’ comments alerted authorities a week earlier, Curry said.

“These weren’t just idle threats,” Curry said. “They talked about it. They planned it. They brought a gun. They drew a map and they bragged about it to other people.... The defendants were targeting an entire school.”

Defense attorney Robert Gardner said any comments the boys may have made were to girls whose attention they were trying to get. He said the boys should be released to their parents.

“This whole case was done to impress these girls,” Gardner said. “It’s talk.”

But Winder police officer Teria Russell testified that inside Joseph’s home, authorities found a detailed diagram of the school and arrows pointing to various rooms, hallways and buildings in which the attack was supposed to occur.

Also, investigators found papers in each of the boys’ possession that talked about death and suggested they wanted to kill themselves, the officer said.

One boy’s father testified that he kept a shotgun, several rifles and a handgun in a case in his home.

Police said the boys would have had access to the guns, though the father said he kept the case locked and had no ammunition in the house.