Teens in LCSO custody after being accused of plotting school shooting

WINK News first brought you the story of two students plotting a Columbine-style shooting at a school in Lehigh Acres on Thursday.

These two students were accused of plotting a mass shooting and have since been released from a mental health facility. The 13- and 14-year-olds were being held there.

Those Harns Marsh Middle School students are now in the custody of Lee County Sheriff’s deputies. They will be held at the Lee County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Thanks to a teacher and a fast-acting school resource officer, the plot failed. A mother, Gloria Rivera, spoke to WINK News on Friday, saying her daughter knows one of the boys.

“She heard the kids name and she was like ‘Mom, that was my friend,'” Rivera said. “I asked her, I was like ‘Hey, how was this child around you? Was he nice, was he with drama? How was he?’ And she was like, ‘He was a nice kid. He was a nice kid. He laughed, he talked.'”

Authorities found guns, ammo and knives and said the teens had researched bomb-making. The teens could face charges of conspiracy to commit a mass shooting.

Deputies identified two students they say were involved in a plot to carry out a school shooting, Conner Pruett, 13, and Phillip Byrd, 14.

In the videos, Byrd is wearing a white sweater and Pruett is wearing a green hoodie.

Videos courtesy of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office:

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