Would-Be Shooter's Sister's Tip-Off Stops Potential Colorado Mass Shooting

The sister of a transgender teen who police say was plotting a mass murder may have prevented another mass shooting in Colorado.

Colorado Springs police arrested a 19-year-old on Thursday for allegedly plotting to conduct a mass school shooting at three schools and possibly a church.

A probable cause statement indicates that Lilly Whitworth planned a shooting at the school she attended last in seventh grade — Timberview Middle School — before switching to homeschooling.

Elbert County deputies recovered a manifesto when searching the suspect’s house. Timberview Elementary, Prairie Hills Elementary, and Pine Creek High School were mentioned as potential targets in her document. In her conversation with a deputy, she also said churches.

The arrest report indicates Whitworth’s sister called the police on March 31 to complain Lilly had threatened her, discussed a recent school shooting, and showed severe anger, CBS News reports.

The suspect’s sister may have prevented a tragedy by reporting a threat she saw.

Her family has lived in the house for two to three years, according to media reports.

According to a sheriff’s deputy, they discovered the home full of trash, boxes, and empty alcohol containers. Then, Elbert County deputies had to go through another door to reach the suspect’s filthy bedroom.

“Lilly was asked how much she had been planning the school shooting, and Lilly stated she’s about a third of the way from doing it,” wrote a deputy in the incident report.

Officials found floor plans of a school on a dry-erase board in the home. Authorities say the suspect wrote a screed detailing the targets, explosive devices, and firearms to be made using 3D printing technology, the network reports.

The arrest report initially misgendered the suspect, but upon discovering the suspect’s gender identity, the document uses her proper name and employs appropriate she/her pronouns.

Some far-right-wing extremists and social media influencers pounced on the possibility that the suspect could be transgender.

Six people, including three children, died in the tragic shooting at Covenant School in Nashville in March, and conservatives tried to use the shooter's gender identity as a scapegoat for transgender people. While previous school shooting suspects have almost exclusively been cisgender men, a few incidents like these have contributed a great deal to the rise of transphobia in the U.S.

Transgender people are predominantly the target of violence, not the perpetrators.

As of Thursday night, the suspect was being held in the Elbert County jail after being charged with two attempted murders. She has also been charged with three felony counts of criminal misconduct and two misdemeanor counts of menacing and interfering with school personnel.

Currently, Whitworth is being held on a $75,000 bond.