‘Intent to commit horrific acts of violence.’ Man who planned shooting at Ky. school pleads guilty
A Lawrenceburg man has admitted in federal court that he contemplated a shooting at Shelby County High School.
Dylan Lee Jarrell, 22, admitted in a plea agreement that “in 2018 he began to plan and prepare to conduct an act of violence against occupants of Shelby County High School,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Jarrell was a former student at the school.
Jarrell was arrested in October 2018, after a New Jersey mother notified police about a racially-motivated message he had sent her on Facebook. Jarrell was caught backing out of his driveway “with the tools necessary to commit this heinous act,” Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders said at the time.
Jarrell also came up with an alternative plan for a murder-suicide in which he planned to kill someone else, identified as D.B., and then kill himself, according to the release.
Jarrell bought a semi-automatic rifle -- an American Tactical Omni Maxx P3 Hybrid 5.56 caliber -- on Aug. 22, 2018. During August and September of that year, he also bought a bump stock for the gun, ammunition, large-capacity magazines and body armor, which he admitted in his plea agreement that he had planned to use in his school shooting or murder-suicide, according to the news release.
Jarrell had been questioned by a special agent with the FBI on May 30, 2018, after he posted public messages about previous school shootings on his Reddit account, but he denied that it was his account.
And on September 24, 2018, he used his Instagram account to send D.B. a message threatening violence, the release stated.
Then on Oct. 17, 2018, Jarrell used his Facebook account to send two harassing messages to the woman in New Jersey who has since been identified as Koeberle Bull.
State police and the FBI went to his home in Anderson County, and Jarrell admitted that he had sent the messages on Facebook and Reddit. He gave officers his cell phone, which allowed them to uncover his “plans to attack Shelby County High School and D.B,” the release stated.
Jarrell pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Lexington Friday to charges including possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce, cyberstalking and making a false statement to federal law enforcement officer.
Jarrell is scheduled for sentencing on April 1. He faces up to five years in prison on the threatening communication, cyberstalking and false statement charges, and at least five more years to be served consecutively on the firearms charge.
“Dylan Jarrell manifested a clear intent to commit horrific acts of violence on innocent persons in our District and elsewhere,” Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in the news release. “Fortunately, because of the thorough work of dedicated law enforcement officers, Jarrell’s plans were thwarted and lives were almost certainly saved. I commend the law enforcement personnel involved in this investigation for their professionalism and commitment to keeping the public safe from harm. We are proud to stand with them in this continued fight.”
Kentucky State Police Commissioner Richard Sanders commended Josh Satterly, the state trooper who “looked beyond the initial complaint of online misconduct by Jarrell” to apprehend him before anyone was hurt.
James Robert Brown Jr., the special agent in charge of the Louisville FBI Field Office, urged the public “to remain vigilant and to report this behavior to law enforcement immediately. In this instance, with the public’s help, the FBI and KSP saved lives.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 7:08 PM.
