As school shootings across the nation are increasing, a plot to carry out yet another one was foiled by an Everett grandmother after she discovered a journal and weapons in her grandson’s bedroom on Tuesday morning.

The grandmother of 18-year-old Joshua Alexander O’Connor discovered his journal on Tuesday morning and found it contained alarming entries pointing to plans to carry out mass shootings at his high school and also found an AR-15 in a guitar case. The discovery prompted the woman to call 911 at 9:30 AM reporting what she believed were upcoming and credible threats to fellow students at the ACES High School at 9700 Holly Drive.

Police responded to the woman’s address and interviewed her in a preliminary investigation, as well as took a quick look in her grandson’s room. While there, they observed two hand grenades in the room and immediately filed for and received a search warrant for the room. An officer also traveled to the high school and pulled O’Connor from his class and took him into custody.

Court records show journal entries of his plans, one entry said, “I’m preparing myself for the school shooting, I can’t wait. My aim has gotten much more accurate … I can’t wait to walk into that class and blow all those (expletives) away.”

He went on to say that he wanted the death count at his school to be “as high as possible,” and went on to go into detail about constructing pressure cooker bombs, deploying explosives, and activating inert grenades.

In another entry, it is reported that O’Connor wrote, “I need to make this count, I’ve been reviewing many mass shootings/bombings (and attempted bombings) I’m learning from past shooters/bombers mistakes.” According to his journal, O’Connell had not determined whether he would target his former school, Kamiak High, or ACES, until he flipped a coin and the ACES High School was chosen.[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]Journal entries would also solve another recent crime in the community. Those entries would describe an armed robbery of a convenience store on W. Casino Road that was carried out the previous night. In the journal, he related how powerful he felt as he held the cashier at gunpoint.

Surveillance cameras showed imagery of two masked robbers, one with an AK-47. Allegedly, O’Connor and an unidentified accomplice made off with approximately $100. After the robbery, O’Connor’s grandmother observed O’Connor returning home with his guitar case.

The search of O’Connor’s room would find an AR-15 in the guitar case, the grenades, masks, and a green and black jacket that matched clothing worn by one of the convenience store robbers.

When picked up, O’Connor admitted to committing the convenience store robbery and as a result, was placed under arrest and taken to the South Everett precinct. When he arrived at the precinct he had managed to slip free from his cuffs and attempted to escape but fell. While on the ground he mule kicked at one of the officers as they attempted to cuff him again.

According to police, he was remanded to the Snohomish County jail on charges of attempted first-degree murder, felony assault, and first-degree robbery.

While police are focusing on O’Connor as a single suspect in the high school shooting plot, they are working to locate the second suspect in the convenience store armed robbery, and to ascertain whether that suspect had knowledge of O’Connor’s intended shooting plot.

Public defender, Rachel Forde, said the inert grenades as well as the AR-15 were legal for O’Connor to possess, and went on to say that the journal entries were not sufficient evidence to support a charge of attempted murder.

But the judge, on Wednesday, determined that probable cause was found to hold O’Connor on three felony counts. His bail was set at $5 million.

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