Three boys held after S.F. High shooting plan found
Teens tell police letter, which included targets, diagrams of campus, was prank
Police are holding three Santa Fe High School students accused of felony terrorism crimes in connection with a letter that outlined a plan for a mass shooting at the school. The three teenage boys told police it was a prank. But city police don’t consider it a joking matter. On Thursday, the department released criminal complaints describing the letter in detail, saying it describes plans for a mass shooting that include a list of specific targets, naming a number of students and two instructors. Diagrams of school grounds describe where the violence would occur, the complaint says.
Police say detectives identified the letter’s author as Aaron Encinias, who was arrested on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activity and interference with public officials or the general public. The document does not give his exact age but says he was born in 2003.
The complaint says Encinias told detectives that he meant the letter, which contains racial and homophobic slurs, as a prank and said two close friends knew about the letter.
The two friends told police they also understood the letter to be a prank, police said, and asked Encinias to identify them as victims on the letter’s “shooter list.”
But police say in the criminal complaint that the two friends of Encinias conspired with him to plan an act of violence.
In addition to including a “list of people to kill,” accord-
ing to the complaint, the author says in the letter that he will kill himself after the shooting and “kill random blonde kid in history class.” Another statement describes the campus plaza area as “perfect place to kill,” the complaints say. Another statement says to “bring extra clothes so you don’t get caught.”
“Just want to get an awesome kill count,” the letter says, according to police.
Santiago Trujillo confessed to a detective that he knew of the letter, according to a complaint that accuses him of engaging in terrorist activity, interfering with public officials or the general public, and conspiring to engage in terrorist activity.
Trujillo, who documents say was born in 2002, told detectives that he had asked Encinias to include him on the “school shooter list” because Trujillo’s sister was on it.
“Mr. Trujillo thought this was only a joke and that Aaron would not act on this threat,” the criminal complaint says.
Julian Carter, also born 2002, is being held on the same counts as Trujillo. On Thursday morning, Carter told police that he had seen the letter and knew of conversations regarding the “shooter list,” according to the complaint filed against him.
Attempts to reach the parents of the boys were unsuccessful Wednesday evening.
Greg Gurulé, city police spokesman, said it will be up to the district attorney to decide whether and how to proceed with the cases.
A school district spokesman said Santa Fe High School students brought the letter to the attention of school administrators Tuesday, but he was not sure when the students had discovered the letter on school grounds.
A recorded telephone message went out to Santa Fe High parents Wednesday. It said: “Santa Fe High discovered a threatening note on campus, and we take all threats seriously.
“While we will work to limit the disruptions due to this threat,” the message continued, “it is important for you to know we will have a heightened police presence at Santa Fe High today, Wednesday, Nov. 8, as we work to ensure student safety. School district security is also on alert. We appreciate the students who brought this to our attention, and we encourage all students and families to notify us if you hear anything that could possibly endanger our students in any way. Keeping everybody safe is of the utmost importance to our school and our district.”
Jeff Gephart, spokesman for the school district, said the high school was not placed on lockdown, but there was an increased police and security presence.
After receiving a tip, The New Mexican had inquired Wednesday evening about a possible shooter situation at the high school. But Gurulé, the police spokesman, said he had no information about the incident and could not find any police reports on the matter because of computer glitches.
Gephart, asked about the threat Wednesday evening, forwarded the text of the automated phone message to The New Mexican.
The incident marks the second time in nearly two years that a Santa Fe High teen has been charged with a felony in connection with a shooting threat. In December 2015, police arrested a 15-year-old Santa Fe High student, saying he had sent a photo to a classmate via Snapchat that showed him holding a gun and proclaiming he was going to “shoot up” the campus.
In that case, the teen allegedly had brought a BB gun to school. School officials had ordered staff and students to shelter in place for a few minutes until the suspect had been identified.