Geneva Woman Accused In Alleged Mass Murder Plot Appears In Court
(CBS) -- A Geneva woman charged in a Valentine's Day mass murder plot in Halifax, Nova Scotia made her first appearance in court Tuesday.
Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder and arson along with 20-year-old Randall Shepard of Halifax.
Authorities in Canada say they planned to shoot as many people as possible then kill themselves at a Halifax shopping center. They say Souvannarath confessed.
Police say they received information on the plot by a tip from Crimestoppers. There were troubling signs on social media too, like a post on Souvannarath's tumbler account reading: "Valentine's Day it's going down."
Alongside her user name at the bottom: the user name of 19-year-old James Gamble, of Canada, who police say was in on the plot.
Both had a fascination with mass shootings like Columbine and Sandy Hook, say police. But when Police went to Gamble's home to arrest him, they found his dead body along with three long-barrel rifles.
CBS 2 Security Analyst Ross Rice says, "There's a misconception that police and the FBI can monitor the internet, it's just not possible. It comes down to concerned citizens being alerted to what might be unusual behavior or threatening behavior and reporting it."
Rice says Souvannarath doesn't cut the typical profile because in part, because, "there's no typical profile anymore."
Police in Geneva served a search warrant at the home Souvannarath lived in with her parents. But say investigators in Halifax haven't said whether any items seized are relevant to their case.
Geneva police say Souvannarath had no record of any kind and they'll continue assisting officials in Halifax any way they can.
