Crime & Safety
Geneva Woman Accused of Plotting Valentine's Day Murder Spree in Canada
The woman's alleged accomplice was found dead. The 23-year-old woman had tweets pre-written to be posted after her death.
A 23-year-old Geneva woman allegedly plotted with a Canadian teen-ager — who police found dead Friday morning — to engage in a Valentine’s Day massacre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The Geneva woman, who has not been identified, was arrested at 2 a.m. at Halifax Stanfield International Airport by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, reports CTV news. She had just arrived on a flight from Chicago and was in the company of a 20-year-old man, who was also taken into custody. Police went to the home of a 19-year-old man in Timberlea, Nova Scotia, and found his dead body at about 1:20 a.m. Later Friday, at about 11 a.m., police found and arrested a 17-year-old male, according to CTV news.
The woman and the dead teen were allegedly engaged in a suicide pact, and would take their own lives after conducting the holiday massacre in a public venue, according to the RCMP. A high-ranking police official told the Associated Press the woman had pre-written tweets to be posted to Twitter after her death.
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“Had they been able to carry out their plan, the potential was for there to be a large number of individual citizens put at risk,” said Nova Scotia RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Brennan. ”And that relates to the potential for how many potentially could have been killed.”
Police acted on a tip from a member of the public. Geneva Police assisted in the investigation and released a statement Friday saying local police had no prior contact with the woman. Brennan thanked local police for assisting in the investigation.
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CBS 2 Chicago reports the Geneva woman and the 19-year-old discussed mass murder in an online chat room and exchanged many photographs of mass murder scenes. Quoting a police source, the Associated Press reports that a shopping mall was the potential target for the massacre.
The role of the two men now in custody is not yet clear, Brennan said at a press conference Friday. The 17 year old reportedly threatened to shoot up a high school and had a warrant for his arrest, police sources said.
“We are not seeking any further suspects at this time in relation to this investigation,” Brennan said.
Police said the plotters posed a “a potential significant weapons-related threat” but declined to discuss details of the plan. Brennan said weapons were seized. He said the group ”had some beliefs” but he would not characterize the plan as ”a terrorist incident.”
The RCMP and Halifax Regional Police responded to the Timberlea home in force with special response teams and an armored vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday. The 19-year-old’s parents were seen leaving the house, which is vacant and for sale. As police waited, the 19-year-old shot himself, according to a police official speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Guns drawn, guys everywhere, dogs, my heart is beating out of my chest,” posted a woman on the neighborhood watch Facebook page.
Neighbors told the Halifax Global News that the people who live in the home where the dead teen was found are “very friendly.”
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