Two Texas girls are in custody after the FBI became aware of a plot to commit a “mass casualty attack” targeting a Harris County high school on Tuesday.
The girls, ages 15 and 16, were reportedly planning to use pipe bombs and guns to attack Memorial High School.
Authorities said the FBI threat mitigation team moved quickly after deeming the threats concerning.
The girls were located and apprehended within 30 minutes with the assistance of law enforcement in Montgomery County, Harris County, and Spring Branch Independent School District.
“I got the call from the FBI agent that we worked very closely with, provided me with the information that they deemed credible, as did I, immediately located the student, found exactly where she was, and went to the school, and that’s when we detained her and began our interview process,” said Spring Branch ISDF Chief Larry Baimbridge.
“This is a perfect example of state and federal law enforcement working together. This is exactly how this information, I think, should be handled and I’m grateful to the FBI that got us information right away and we were able to act on it very quickly.”
Baimbridge said the 16-year-old girl was a student at Memorial High School and is facing a charge of making a terroristic threat.
The other juvenile was arrested in Montgomery County on an unrelated charge.
“We were able to take troubling information we received, conduct a rapid investigation, turn our results over to trusted local law enforcement partners, and ultimately save lives of innocent students,” said FBI Houston Spokesman Connor Hagan.
“This type of situation is exactly why the FBI exists.”
