School Program Might Have Prevented A Massacre
By Tom Mustin
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) - Disturbing images from a social media account, and new insight into a life-saving program. Those were the new developments in the alleged plot to attack students and faculty at Mountain Vista High School.
On Wednesday students at Vista had more on their minds than exams as they returned to class.
"Knowing that it was at my school, I was a little afraid something might happen to my friends or me," Freshman Kimberly Paschke told CBS4's Tom Mustin.
On Saturday a student Text-A-Tip lead to the capture of two 16-year-old female students. The sheriff's office says the girls had been plotting a "credible" attack at the Highlands Ranch school.
Graphic images from the Tumblr page of one of the suspects offered a disturbing look into the mind of the teen. The page -- since taken down -- contained satanic pictures, including bloody images of death and torture, along with weapons and references to the Columbine massacre.
"To know that someone is interested in that stuff is weird and disturbing," said Paschke.
On Wednesday Douglas County Schools Superintendent Liz Fagen held a press conference praising the anonymous student who called in information about the alleged plot.
"They took a risk as a teenager to share something with adults, and as a result of that decision, that made a difference in a lot of lives," said Fagen.
Sophomore Cooper Jamieson says students were told about the Text-A-Tip line during orientation. The text goes directly to the sheriff's office and Douglas County Schools.
"It's a great resource. If people don't want to look like a snitch they can just text it in and it's anonymous. So I think it works out pretty well," Jamieson said.
There have been 231 Text-A-Tips from Douglas County students this year. It's a program that may have stopped the unthinkable.
LINK: Text-A-Tip
Tom Mustin is CBS4's Weekend Anchor. He has been with CBS4 since 2002, and is always looking for great story ideas. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomCBS4.