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Former Colorado Springs student accused of planning school shooting

By Zachary Dupont April 6, 2023 | updated 2 years ago

Investigators found instructions on how to build homemade bombs and a whiteboard with the floor plan to Timberview Middle School in the bedroom of a former student accused of planning a mass shooting at the Colorado Springs school, according to arrest records obtained by The Gazette.

The Elbert County Sheriff’s Office arrested William Whitworth, 19, on March 31 on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder and other charges after Whitworth admitted to wanting to shoot up a school, the affidavit states.

Deputies went to Whitworth’s home after Whitworth’s sister claimed that Whitworth was behaving violently and made references to school shootings earlier in the day.

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The affidavit lists the defendant as male, but Whitworth’s sister referred to Whitworth as “lily” and described her sibling as “their sister” when she spoke with investigators.

Eric Ross, a spokesperson for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, told The Gazette that Whitworth is in the process of transitioning to female.

Deputies found Whitworth lying in bed, drunk, in a room piled with trash that had several holes in the wall, according to the affidavit.

When authorities asked why Whitworth wanted to shoot up a school, Whitworth said: “No specific reason.” Whitworth also admitted to being “about a third of the way from doing it (committing a mass shooting),” the affidavit states.

Deputies found a “manifesto” with the names of mass shooters, political commentators and more while searching Whitworth’s home, according to the affidavit.

They also found a notebook with instructions on how to make firearms using a 3D printer and how to make homemade explosives. Whitworth admitted to watching a YouTube video on how to build a detonator, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit states that Prairie Hills Elementary and Pine Creek High School, both in Colorado Springs, were also listed as “targets” in one of Whitworth’s notebooks, which contained a “detailed” list of people “to be killed.” Investigators did not find any weapons in the home, but they did find a liquid that is used to clean firearms.

They also found a whiteboard in Whitworth’s bedroom with a floor plan drawn out by hand of Timberview Middle School, where Whitworth was enrolled from August to October in 2016, according to representatives with Academy District 20. Whitworth attended Prairie Hills Elementary from August 2014 to February 2015, District 20 representatives said.

Academy district spokesperson Allison Cortez said the district is not aware of any threats made by Whitworth, whose charges include menacing and criminal mischief, while the defendant was enrolled as a student. Whitworth, who is being held on $75,000 bond, attended three District 20 middle schools for a total of nine months.

Cortez could not immediately provide an explanation why Whitworth left those schools after only being enrolled at each institution for a few months. She said federal law prohibits the district from commenting on disciplinary action for specific students.

Middle and high schools in Academy District 20, including Timberview Middle School, always have an armed school resource officer in the building through the Colorado Springs Police Department when students are in school.

In 2016, elementary and middle schools in the district also introduced safe entrances where people must be buzzed into the buildings. Other upgrades included introducing more doors throughout district schools.

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Zachary Dupont

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