Monday school shooting plot broken up, say La. cops, three teens arrested

(CBS/WWL) MANDEVILLE, La. - Authorities in Louisiana say have thwarted a potential attack at a New Orleans-area high school Monday, with the arrest of three teenagers allegedly plotting a shooting on the first day of school.

The Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said all three suspects are 15-year-old boys and that their plans for an attack at Lakeshore High in Mandeville, La. were carefully laid out, with the intent to kill, reported CBS affiliate WWL.

Authorities said the plotters dubbed their group "Day Zero" and planned to acquire a number of guns and bring them to the school.

"In my nearly 30 years in law enforcement, in this parish, this is the most advanced plan that I have seen to date that was, or potentially was, a threat to our school kids," said St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain, according to WWL.

Investigators collected information off computers at the student's homes. They said the plans included targeting at least one student at the school and killing any law enforcement officer who would have responded to the scene.

Other students tipped off a school administrator about the plan, who then notified the St. Tammany Parish School System and, in turn, the Sheriff's Office.

"We had students step up, do the right thing, gave us the information and helped us possibly avert something," said St. Tammany School Superintendent Trey Folse.

The discovery of the alleged plot comes after the school system mounted a public service campaign, aimed at discouraging students from even joking about a violent plot at school, WWL reported.

"All these kinds of threats are serious in nature and that you need to make sure that anything you say can't be misinterpreted or taken the wrong way," Folse said.

The three 15-year-olds were in custody at the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center. Each faces one count of conspiracy to commit terrorism. The sheriff's office said the three teens have been cooperating with the investigation and have not denied their involvement in the planned violence.

Additional deputies were to be dispatched to Lakeshore High on Monday, but authorities said they are confident everyone involved in the alleged plot has been arrested.