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American Morning

Could New Bedford have been Bigger than Columbine?

Aired November 27, 2001 - 07:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Bigger than Columbine, that's what police say about an alleged student plan they've uncovered to terrorize a high school in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Police say their investigation has led them to five students so far. We get more from CNN's Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are nervous days at New Bedford High, but the terror students and teachers fear allegedly comes from within. Three students, two freshmen and a junior, were arraigned Monday on charges of planning a deadly attack on the Massachusetts school using guns and homemade bombs. Authorities say the three, possibly others, were intent on gunning down fellow students as they fled the explosions. The local police chief said it was to be bigger than Columbine.

CHIEF ARTHUR J. KELLEY, NEW BEDFORD POLICE: They talked about that they were going to try to outdo Columbine, that they were going to detonate an explosive device, that they were going to shoot students and faculty and eventually commit suicide themselves.

SAVIDGE: Even in post-September 11 America, the mere mention of Columbine still sends shudders through the nation. A high school massacre in Littleton, Colorado two-and-a-half years ago claimed the lives of 14 students and a teacher. Among the dead, two teens who carried out the attack before killing themselves as police arrived.

Like the Columbine killers, the Massachusetts students refer to themselves as members of the Trenchcoat Mafia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was shocked. I was just -- I can't believe it.

SAVIDGE: Police say the plot began to unravel in October when a female student passed along whispers of rumors to a teacher. Authorities began asking questions. Later, off campus, a box was found containing bomb-making materials. But the clincher was a discarded note found last week by a school janitor.

KELLEY: That explicitly outlined an event that would occur on a Monday.

SAVIDGE: Over the weekend, police arrested the teens, and a search of one of their homes reportedly turned up a bomb recipe book, ammunition and photographs of one of the students posing with guns.

But the mother of 17-year-old Eric McKeehan, one of the suspects, says the story's been overblown by overzealous cops. The ammunition, she claims, was a souvenir from a hunting trip, the picture from a high school ROTC program.

The mother of another suspect calls it a rumor that took on a life of its own.

So just how close did this high school come to being another tragic icon like Columbine? School officials say thankfully they may never know.

Martin Savidge, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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