Two teenagers were charged with several crimes Monday in connection to an alleged school shooting plot at Clay County Middle School that shut down the county's schools for days earlier this month.
The teenagers are both boys who live in Clay; one is 15 and one is 13. They are charged with making terroristic threats, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder, according to West Virginia State Police Sgt. B.L. Keefer.
Others are likely to be charged as the investigation continues, Keefer said Monday afternoon.
Clay County schools were closed May 4, 5 and 6 while police investigated threats that Clay County Middle students allegedly made about shooting classmates and teachers, Superintendent Kenneth Tanner said previously.
School officials had received a tip on April 26, that a middle school student had made threats about shooting people at the school on April 20 - the 17th anniversary of the attack by two students at Columbine High School, in Colorado. Tanner said he believed the students didn't carry out the attack on April 20 because they wanted to recruit more students and get more guns.
Three students were removed from the school for their alleged involvement in the threats, Tanner said on May 4. School officials closed all Clay schools, not just the middle school.
The juveniles appeared before a Clay County circuit judge Monday, after a juvenile petition was filed against them, Keefer said. The petition is similar to a criminal complaint filed in magistrate court against an adult, according to Keefer.
"Because these are serious felony charges and they are juveniles, they were brought before a circuit judge in Clay County," the trooper said.
Keefer said that, because of their ages, police won't provide any identifying information about them, including whether they are students at Clay County Middle or if they have been placed in a juvenile detention facility.
"I can't stress enough that this is an ongoing investigation and there's a good possibility others will be charged. We're asking parents, students, school staff - anyone, who could further the investigation - to make sure we've uncovered this case in its entirety," Keefer said. "People assume we know information that's out there and on Facebook, but we'd prefer for people to call us about even the smallest things and let us make the determination about whether it's important."
Teachers at the middle school found out about the alleged threats and alerted the principal, according to Keefer. The school's principal contacted county school officials and the State Police.
Clay County schools had more security when they reopened on May 9, Keefer said.
The county already has a good security policy in place, he said. Over the summer, state troopers in Clay, Roane and Calhoun counties, plan to take additional active-shooter training courses.
"We're trained on it anyway, but I think we can't have enough training. I want my troopers to be familiar with every school, every nook and cranny, including the private schools in the county so, if and when, God forbid, we have to respond to a situation like [what was allegedly threatened] we will know what we're getting into," Keefer said.
"In this day and time, with everything going on, it can be a disservice to feel safe anywhere. I hate to say that, but you don't want to become complacent," he said. "You have to be vigilant in this day and time, with home invasions, the drug problem, people who have nefarious plots, religious extremists - we see it again and again."
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.