Police have uncovered some disturbing social media posts by an Indiana teen who allegedly plotted to carry out a mass shooting on Valentine's Day.
Trinity Shockley, 18, was taken into custody just days after police uncovered the alleged plot targeting Mooresville High School, located southwest of Indianapolis.
She is currently being held without bond and faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder, threat to commit terrorism, and conspiracy to commit intimidation.
Court documents reveal that the FBI’s Sandy Hook Promise Say Something Anonymous Reporting System received a tip from a friend of Shockley, who claimed she had access to an AR-15 rifle and had recently purchased a bulletproof vest, per ABC News.
The tipster also alleged that Shockley was obsessed with Nikolas Cruz, the perpetrator of the 2018 Parkland school shooting that killed 17 people.
During their investigation, authorities uncovered messages Shockley had sent to the tipster, including one that stated: “I’ve been planning this for a YEAR.”
Police also discovered social media posts from Shockley that featured images of gun magazines, along with messages praising Cruz and Dylann Roof, the shooter who killed nine people at a South Carolina church in 2015. Authorities said she also made threats to carry out a school shooting.
When officers searched Shockley’s home, they found posters and photographs dedicated to multiple mass shooters. Among the images were photos of Cruz, Roof, and Andrew Blaze, who killed three people at a Pennsylvania grocery store in 2017.
Investigators also found that Shockley’s backpack was adorned with buttons featuring images of these killers, and similar images were set as the wallpaper on her laptop. A poster for Zero Day, a 2003 film about a school shooting, was displayed in her room.
Court records indicate that her notebooks contained swastikas and phrases such as "kill," "bang," and "I hate you all DIE DIE DIE."
Authorities revealed that Shockley had been receiving mental health counseling since her freshman year and had previously expressed suicidal thoughts. However, Mooresville Police Detective Matthew McDaniel stated in court records that the school had determined "nothing was significant enough to cause intervention."
The school district later confirmed that Shockley "will not return to the school."
McDaniel also cited information from the school suggesting that Shockley’s father, Tim Shockley, had prevented her from accessing mental health treatment.
"It was [the school's] understanding that Mr. Shockley did not believe in mental health treatment and did not take his daughter's conditions seriously," McDaniel wrote in the probable cause affidavit.
After turning 18 in November, Shockley reportedly sought treatment independently.
Shockley reportedly told investigators that she had been bullied for years at school, per FOX News.
She also pointed to a 2022 incident in which she was struck by a drunk driver while waiting for the school bus, which she said exacerbated her struggles.
