Teen Charged In School Plot Idolized Movie Shooter: Affidavit

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Plumsted Township teenager charged with threatening to shoot up his high school graduation told authorities he got "a rush" from studying mass shootings and was particularly fascinated with the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting, according to court papers.

Matthew Vanderbeek, 19, was charged with terrorism on Monday in connection with the threat to the New Egypt High School graduation, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said.

The affidavit filed in support of the terrorism charge revealed further chilling details of the allegations against Vanderbeek. Among them:

• Vanderbeek told investigators he had dyed his hair red to match that of James Holmes, the Colorado man who is serving a life sentence in the 2012 mass shooting during a showing of "The Dark Knight" in Aurora, Colorado, that killed 12 people and injured 58 others, according to the affidavit.
• He had been arrested in April in connection with a threat to the Ocean County Vocational-Technical School center in Brick Township but was released to await trial and was disappointed he didn't go to jail, the affidavit said.
• A suicide note from Vanderbeek to his family was found in his bedroom during the search conducted following the New Egypt graduation threat, the affidavit said.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal gave written approval for the terrorism charge against Vanderbeek, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office. Vanderbeek also is facing a third-degree charge of terroristic threats with a threat to kill and a second-degree charge of attempting to possess a firearm for an unlawful purpose, he said.

The threat against the New Egypt graduation came to light when students reported it to administrators on the morning of June 19, two days before graduation. Police and the Ocean County prosecutor's office investigated immediately and spoke to students who alleged Vanderbeek had threatened to kill students and staff members. One told investigators Vanderbeek had asked for a ride to Pinelands Sporting Goods in Jackson Township so he could buy a gun, but the driver refused, stopped his vehicle and made Vanderbeek get out on the side of the road to walk home, the affidavit said.

According to the newest court filings, Vanderbeek allegedly admitted asking for help in buying a firearm from the sporting goods store and allegedly admitted talked about shootings at both New Egypt High School and the vocational school. But he denied specifying a shooting at graduation because he "knew that a mass shooter would never give the date and time of his planned shooting," the affidavit says.

Vanderbeek, who sees a therapist according to the affidavit, also allegedly told investigators that he studies mass shootings, the Aurora shooting in particular.

"The defendant stated that when he studies the killings he gets 'a rush' that he has never felt before," the affidavit says. Vanderbeek allegedly told investigators he analyzes the shootings for mistakes, "an example being the drugs taken by Holmes during his murders" and that he had been searching for how to obtain a .22-caliber firearm, according to the affidavit.

Holmes used a .22-caliber Glock in the Aurora shootings, the investigator noted in the affidavit.

Following the videotaped interview, Vanderbeek allegedly told investigators he tried to contact officials in Colorado "to have James Holmes taken off death row" and that he hopes to speak with Holmes some day to hear directly from the shooter about his motives for the shootings. (Holmes is not on death row; he pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence, according to a Los Angeles Times report from 2015.)

Court documents previously revealed that Vanderbeek had been expelled from the vocational school following the April 2018 threat to kill students and staff at the Brick center, and that students who wore orange would be safe.

The newer court documents said he had been receiving home instruction from New Egypt High School to finish out his high school education following a nine-day suspension in connection with the vocational school threat. Vanderbeek was arrested and his family's home searched in connection with that threat, the affidavit said, and a bow and arrows were seized at that time. Vanderbeek, who had been released to await a court date in that case, allegedly told school administration at New Egypt that he was disappointed that he didn't spend time in jail, the affidavit said.

He also allegedly had posted items to Snapchat that focused on killing people:

• One Snapchat video allegedly from Vanderbeek is described as a clip from the animated TV show "South Park," of an episode where the characters have rifles and are loading a handgun. The clip was captioned "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" at the start, followed by "I see myself dead in the end" at the clip's conclusion, according to the affidavit.
• A second Snapchat clip allegedly from Vanderbeek is described as showing a background picture of a green-and-black biohazard symbol with a quote: "It will become fine dust among the land of Egypt with boils breaking out on man and beast exitis-99." That quote allegedly is a reference to Exodus 9:9, a Bible verse that talks about ending the world and killing people, the affidavit said.

The terrorism charge spans the time period of both threats alleged, from April 1 to June 19, and accuses him of making the threats "with the purpose to promote an act of terror, or to terrorize five or more people." Vanderbeek remains at the Ocean County Jail in Toms River awaiting a pretrial detention hearing that was set for Thursday morning.

PREVIOUS REPORTING:

• Teen Planned Shooting At New Egypt HS Graduation: Authorities
• Plumsted Teen Threatened Shooting At 2nd School: Affidavit
• Terrorism Charge Added In New Egypt Graduation Shooting Threat

This article was updated to add further details on the charges and to clarify when the suicide note was discovered.

Photo of Matthew Vanderbeek via Ocean County Corrections Department