An 18-year-old transgender teenager from Indiana, Trinity Shockley, has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and two terrorism-related charges. Authorities allege that Shockley was planning a mass shooting at Mooresville High School on Valentine’s Day. Shockley reportedly had a fascination with Nikolas Cruz, the individual responsible for the 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, which resulted in 17 fatalities.
According to an affidavit obtained by a CNN affiliate, WISH, Shockley had a collage of mass shooters on her bedroom wall. The affidavit also details online chat room messages between Shockley and another individual, where Shockley allegedly discussed her plans to commit mass murder using an AR-15 rifle she intended to purchase.
Shockley’s collage included images of Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who killed nine people at a historically Black church in Charleston in 2015, and Randy Stair, who murdered three coworkers at a Pennsylvania supermarket. Shockley reportedly sent a photo of the collage to the individual she was chatting with online, stating, “I have THIS staring at me.”
Authorities discovered notebooks in Shockley’s backpack that contained swastikas and phrases such as “kill,” “bang,” and “I hate you all DIE DIE DIE.” A guidance counselor at Shockley’s school met with her earlier in the week, where she expressed her interest in mass murders.
Shockley, who also goes by the name Jamie, reportedly told her guidance counselor that she was struggling with the recent death of her mother due to a drug overdose and had been bullied at school after being hit by a drunk driver. In 2022, Shockley was the focus of a community fundraiser in Mooresville after she was hit by a drunk driver on her way to school, resulting in head injuries and multiple broken bones.
The Mooresville police were alerted to Shockley’s alleged plans after receiving a tip from the Sandy Hook tip line. The caller claimed that a friend had access to an AR-15 rifle, had recently ordered a bulletproof vest, and admired Cruz. Shockley allegedly planned the shooting to coincide with the seventh anniversary of the Parkland shooting. The affidavit does not specify whether the police found a gun in Shockley’s possession.