It's not that often that we have the chance to report on some legitimately good news these days, but since the opportunity presented itself this week we might as well take advantage of it. This is the story of yet another mass school shooting, but it's one that didn't wind up happening. The plot was unfolding in Montgomery County, Maryland, and in what seems to be part of a disturbing trend, the aspiring shooter is transgender. An 18-year-old high school girl named Andrea Ye went by the name of "Alex" and described herself as a male. Like others before her, she had written a massive manifesto detailing her dreams of "setting a record" for the most kills, preferably in an elementary school. The parallels to the Covenant School attack in Tennessee are too obvious to ignore, but she was detected and taken into custody before the plan could be put into effect. (National Review)

The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) arrested an 18-year-old transgender high-school student on Wednesday in connection with a plan to commit a school shooting.

Andrea Ye of Rockville, Maryland — who goes by the name “Alex” — authored a 129-page manifesto detailing her desire to attack an elementary school, writing that she wants to be famous and describing her strategy for carrying out the shooting, Montgomery County police announced in a Thursday press release. The statement of charges against Ye, which National Review obtained from the office of the Montgomery County state’s attorney, includes excerpts from her manifesto and glimpses into her internet history.

Several of Ye’s Google searches, in addition to instructions for making bombs and details about other school shootings, had to do with the March 2023 attack on the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, in which Audrey Hale — a biological woman identifying as a transgender man named “Aiden” — killed three nine-year-old children and three adults before being shot and killed by police.

Andrea Ye was clearly a fan of Audrey Hale and referenced her in her writings. She had been researching instructions for bombmaking and fantasized about murdering elementary school students because she "might get tackled" if she shot up a high school. This sounds like a textbook definition of a monster if I've ever heard one.

Plenty of outlets picked up the news of the arrest, but there was one curious commonality among many of them. The majority of headlines I came across completely failed to mention the fact that she was trans. The BBC only described the aspiring shooter as a "teen." The Independent similarly went with "teenager." WTOP News in Washington described Ye as a "Montgomery County Student." WHIO News in Ohio went with "Maryland Teen." 

Back in Montgomery County, officials didn't seem to want to talk about the suspect's trans identity either. Watch as County Executive Marc Elrich explodes when being asked why the trans angle is being covered up and why he is "burying the lede."

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, a democratic socialist, implodes after a reporter asked why the county is reluctant to admit that alleged would-be school shooter Andrea "Alex" Ye is transgender. Why is the lede being buried?

"It's not a lede," Elrich said. "It is not a… pic.twitter.com/5iubFsKel0

— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) April 19, 2024

That seems like a fairly important point to include at this stage. Why are we seeing so many younger transgender people turning violent in this fashion? And why do most of them wind up having a "manifesto?" We should be allowed to learn what, if any, medications Andrea Ye was on. People exhibiting one mental illness (gender dysphoria) frequently wind up demonstrating others. Was this young woman receiving any treatment or was she just shoved into the transition pipeline and sent out to "express" herself as she chose? 

Some of the details released from her manifesto were horrifying. She wrote of dreaming about shooting up her former elementary school because "little kids make easier targets.” She described her teachers as "evil" and the other students as "little a**holes." Shooting up the school would be "the perfect revenge."

It's wonderful that a mass shooting was prevented, but now the county has a serious problem on its hands. What do they do with this little monster now? She's been charged with "threats of mass violence" and was being held at the county's Central Processing Unit while awaiting a bond hearing. (Bond was denied last night.) But what comes next? In Maryland, the penalty for committing a threat of mass violence can be up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in criminal fines. But that's rarely handed down to first offenders and the most serious charges specifically apply only to groups of five or more people planning an attack. Who will be responsible for keeping an eye on Andrea Ye after she is eventually released? Perhaps it's time for a fresh look at involuntary confinement to a mental health facility.