UPDATES: Teen Charged For School Shooting Plot In Frederick County

(Updated 4:47 p.m. Friday): THURMONT, MD — A father of a Catoctin High School student told authorities of his daughter's plans for a mass shooting at her school, according to reports. The Frederick County Sheriff's Office said officers were notified by a concerned parent of the potential threat of violence towards the school on Thursday, March 23.

The student — Nichole Cevario, 18, of Thurmont — was immediately removed from her classroom and turned over to investigators, police said. Police say Cevario was struggling with mental health issues and was transported to Frederick Memorial Hospital for an emergency evaluation.

According to NBC Washington, Cevario was released from jail Friday morning and promptly arrested. She was arrested for possession of explosive and incendiary material with intent to create a destructive device.

Cevario is being held without bond and is awaiting a mental health evaluation.

Through investigation, officers located a shotgun with ammunition; bomb making materials to include pipes with end caps; shrapnel; fireworks; magnesium tape; and fuse material, police said.

Officers also investigated Cevario's journal, which according to WTOP, Cevario's father gave to police.

The journal "clearly spelled out a detailed shooting event that she planned to execute on a specific date in April at Catoctin High School," police said. The journal was very detailed and included a timeline that revealed how she was going to execute the plot and intelligence on emergency procedures at the school.

Cevario allegedly asked the school resource deputy questions such as how deputies were armed when during a school emergency, which she wrote about in the journal.

“It was all in her preplanning in her mind, how she was going to carry this out. She looked at the patterns of the deputies; she looked at the entrance and exits of the school, how the school was secured,” Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins said, according to WTOP.

NBC also reports Cevario said in her journal that she believed she would be the first female mass shooter.

The investigation to this point revealed that this was a plot solely conceived by Cevario, and there were no other individuals that assisted her in the planning an/or the execution of the plot, police said.

"Preliminary investigation revealed clearly that Ms. Cevario posed a threat not only to the school, but to herself," a police statement reads.

Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Cevario that will be served upon her release from Frederick Memorial Hospital.

Cevario will be charged with: Possession of explosive material with intent to create a destructive device and Possession of incendiary material with the intent to create a destructive device, police said.

According to the Sheriff's Office, the investigation revealed there was never a weapon or explosive device brought to school property.

Additionally, although police located explosive materials during the investigation, they had not been combined in any form that actually create an explosive device, police said.

Catoctin High School's Principal Bernie Quesada issued a statement regarding the incident, saying:

"We take all threats concerning student safety extremely seriously, as does law enforcement. While we handled this incident quickly and appropriately, we always ask for your help in controlling rumors, particularly social media rumors. The bottom line is this: We keep our school safe, and we will continue to work together as a community to keep it safe."

Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to contact SGT Greg Warner at 301-600-2583.

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