‘A thought crime:’ Manifesto, gun didn’t mean Kentucky school attack was a go, defense says

A suspect accused of plotting a Kentucky school shooting said in a manifesto he would be the next school shooter of 2018, according to media reports.

State police allege Dylan Jarrell had a detailed plan on his phone to attack an Anderson County school, according to WTVQ’s Kelsi Thorud. Jarrell’s Lawrenceburg residence is a few blocks from Anderson County High School.

Trooper Josh Satterly, who took a report from a New Jersey mother that led to Jarrell’s arrest, testified in a preliminary hearing Thursday that Jarrell had a list of news organizations to contact when he carried out the attack, WKYT’s Garrett Wymer reported.

A search of Jarrell’s residence discovered “corroborating information that a threat was valid and imminent,” according to Jarrell’s arrest citation.

State police found an AR-15, over 200 rounds of ammunition, a Kevlar vest, a 100-round high capacity magazine, and a detailed plan of attack, according to a news release from police. He also had “internet search history of how to conduct a school shooting,” Sgt. Joshua Lawson said after Jarrell’s arrest two weeks ago.

Notebooks with details of previous school shootings and their shooters, along with a checklist of items, were also found in his home, WKYT reported Thursday.

Satterly said Jarrell did not tell anyone about his attack plans, according to Thorud.

A phone call from New Jersey mother Koeberle Bull led state police and the FBI to Jarrell, who was caught backing out of his driveway “with the tools necessary” to commit an attack,” Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders said.

Bull placed the call to police after receiving racially-motivated threats against her children on Facebook, Bull said on “The Ellen Show” Tuesday. She discovered the messages came from Jarrell, police said.

When the defense questioned Satterly, he said Jarrell told police he suffers from anxiety and schizophrenia and he “showed anxiety during the interview,” according to LEX 18’s Karolina Buczek.

The defense argued there was no actual proof Jarrell was going to carry out the attack and called it a “thought crime,” WKYT reported. The prosecutor said Jarrell’s manifesto was proof enough that he was going to carry out the attack, according to WTVQ.

The judge raised Jarrell’s bond to $500,000 and found probable cause for terroristic threatening and harassing communication charges to be sent to a grand jury for review, Wymer said.

This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 1:22 PM.