FOILED MAY 13, 1999 Port Huron, Mich. Their plan, police said, was to outdo Columbine perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold by arming themselves, forcing the principal of Holland Woods Middle School to call an assembly and then killing teachers, classmates and themselves. Jedaiah (David) Zinzo and Justin Schnepp, both 14, made a list of 154 targets, stole a building plan from the school custodian's office and plotted to use one gun to steal more. Classmates caught wind of the plot and reported it to the assistant principal. Zinzo and Schnepp were sentenced to four years' probation.
FOILED MAY 19, 1999 Anaheim, Calif. When police searched the homes of two eighth-graders at South Junior High, they found two bombs, bombmaking materials, a military-surplus rifle, a Ruger Blackhawk .45-cal. handgun, 1,500 rounds of ammunition and Nazi paraphernalia. They were tipped off by a student who heard that the boys, whose names were not released, were threatening to blow up the school.
MAY 20, 1999 Conyers, Ga. Thomas Solomon Jr., 15, aimed low with his stepfather's .22 rifle and wounded six fellow students at Heritage High School. WARNING SIGNS Solomon told classmates he would "blow up this classroom" and had no reason to live. He was being treated for depression and was teased by a popular sports player whom Solomon believed was the object of his girlfriend's affections.
FOILED AUG. 24, 1999 Northeast Florida Two teenagers were charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree murder after a teacher saw drawings, one of which depicted a bloody knife, a shotgun and an assault weapon. The teens allegedly described themselves as Satan worshippers and claimed they were planning to leave a deadlier trail than the one at Columbine. Charges were dropped for lack of evidence, and the boys were released from house arrest.
FOILED OCT. 28, 1999 Cleveland, Ohio Adam Gruber, 14, above, and John Borowski, Benjamin Balducci and Andy Napier, all 15, were white students planning a rampage at their mostly black school. It was to end, one of the boys' friends said, in a suicidal shoot-out with police, with one survivor to "bask in the glory." Officials were tipped off to the plot by another student's mother.
NOV. 19, 1999 Deming, N.M. Victor Cordova Jr., 12, fired one shot into the lobby of Deming Middle School and hit Araceli Tena, 13, in the back of the head. She died the next day. WARNING SIGNS Cordova reportedly boasted the day before the shooting that he would "make history blasting this school," but no adults were told. Since losing his mother to cancer, Cordova was reportedly suicidal.
DEC. 6, 1999 Fort Gibson, Okla. Seventh-grader Seth Trickey was a religious, straight-A student. But then, police say, he came to school, stood under a tree, pulled out his father's 9-mm semiautomatic handgun and fired at least 15 rounds into a group of classmates. Four were wounded. WARNING SIGNS A juvenile court heard that Trickey was receiving psychological counseling and was deeply influenced by the Columbine shootings. Psychologists said he was obsessed by the military, in particular General George S. Patton, and the shootings may have been Trickey's way of proving he could hold his own in battle.