Headlines  -  Political  -  Local Links  -  Local Gas Prices  -  New! - Video News

Visit our sister site: www.PottstownCoupons.com

Teen Shooting Plot at Pottstown H.S. Uncovered

Authorities in Montgomery County, Pa. say they have broken up an apparent plot to shoot up Pottstown Senior High School early next month.

Allegedly Richard Yanis, a 15-year-old ninth-grader at the high school, will be charged with attempted murder in connection with a Columbine-style massacre plot planned for right after the Christmas-New Year holiday recess.

Officials say Yanis burglarized his own home to get three guns and then gave those guns (right) to a friend to bring to school. Officials say the plot began to unravel when Yanis' father reported the gun thefts and the friend told his stepmother that he had the weapons.

Investigators say the stepmother threw the guns into a nearby creek but they have since been recovered. The boy also confided in school officials that he had been given the weapons by Yanis.  (more below picture)

Yanis may be charged as an adult in the case. Prosecutors describe him as an outcast and a loner, and say his plan was to shoot everyone he didn't like, then shoot himself.

Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman believes that Yanis was intent on carrying out an attack:

"He had the guns, he had the ammunition, he took the step of devising a plan, he gave the guns and ammunition to someone else to bring to the school. And the only thing that hadn’t happened was him giving the word.”

Many adults learned of the situation through news reports or other parents, as opposed to school officials, although the district did post an announcement on its web site.

Several students said they left classes early of their own accord, while others were pulled out by their parents.

Senior vo-tech student Charles Bacon said he knew Yanis as a friend of a friend and called him “an okay guy” who never had problems with teachers.

But as for the alleged plot, Bacon says he’s not surprised because “nothing’s impossible” -- although he is surprised that Yanis may be involved.

Sophomore Nick Ernst has one class with Yanis, and said rumors had been circulating around the school for the last week or so. He described Yanis as someone who was picked on a lot and kept to himself, but says “he had that look on his face like he was just thinking about killing people.”

Parent Rahman Hakim took his two children out of class on Tuesday after getting an initial message from the school and learning further details from media reports. He also suggested that Yanis’ parents should have kept a closer check on their son.