THE CHILLING THREAT: Connetquot targeted

Two teenagers were plotting a Columbine-style assault on

Connetquot High School, trying to buy an Uzi submachine gun, an AK-47 assault

rifle and 5 pounds of black powder explosive over the Internet to use in

killing scores of classmates and teachers, police said Friday.

The students, Michael McDonough, 17, of Holbrook, and a 15-year-old on

long-term school suspension whom police described as the "main instigator,"

were planning the assault on the 2,300-student Bohemia high school for April

20, 2008 - the ninth anniversary of the attack at Columbine High School in

Colorado that left 12 students and one teacher dead, authorities said.

"I will start a chain of terrorism in the world," the 15-year-old allegedly

wrote in a diary police obtained after it was found in the parking lot of the

McDonald's restaurant in Bohemia where he worked. Next to the statement was a

drawing of a pipe bomb explosion and bodies on the ground.

Suffolk County Police Department Commissioner Richard Dormer read passages

from the teen's diary at a news conference and described the drawing.

The teenager, whose name police did not release because of his age, also

allegedly wrote: "I want to kill so many people in the war zone and target so

many that this will go down in history." He added that he would "turn the gun

on the cops and then myself - perfecto."

Dormer said the journal "actually named a number of students" with whom the

15-year-old had problems, and included numerous references to Columbine.

The diary referred to a "J Day," which police believe was "judgment day,"

the day the boy planned to carry out the attack.

Police said the 15-year-old had placed an order for the black powder

explosive over the Internet, but the transaction apparently never went through.

They still were investigating whether he was able to obtain any guns.

Authorities also recovered "chilling" videos the 15-year-old had made

featuring himself, Dormer said, that were similar to those made by the

Columbine attackers.

"A disaster was averted," Dormer said at the news conference at police

headquarters in Yaphank that was broadcast live on CNN. "He was very explicit

in what he wanted to do."

Alan B. Groveman, superintendent of the Connetquot Central School District,

said he was "scared to death" when he learned of the journal and the threats

it contains.

"This stuff is terrible," Groveman said at the news conference.

Both the 15-year-old, a student at Connetquot High, and McDonough, a

student at nearby Sachem High School North, were arrested and charged with

fifth-degree conspiracy. Both worked at the McDonald's in Bohemia, Dormer said.

The 15-year-old, who was charged as a juvenile, was brought into Family

Court on Friday afternoon, handcuffed behind his back. A Family Court judge

ordered him to undergo two weeks of medical evaluation at Sagamore Children's

Psychiatric Center in Dix Hills.

Afterward, his mother, stepfather and attorney, Robert Gallo, declined to

comment.

McDonough, who was represented by Legal Aid Society attorney Robert Flick,

pleaded not guilty in First District Court in Central Islip, and Judge John

Iliou set bond of $50,000 or cash bail of $25,000. McDonough's parents said in

court that their son already was receiving treatment from Catholic Charities

health services.

Flick, leaving the courthouse, said his client was "barely culpable."

The charges against the teenagers are misdemeanors punishable by up to 1

year in jail. Suffolk Chief of Detectives Dominick Varrone said it was the

"most serious charge we were capable of charging," although more charges could

be forthcoming.

Police said the 15-year-old made references throughout the diary to an

accomplice.

Authorities said they uncovered the alleged scheme after a woman found a

60-page, single-spaced, handwritten diary in the McDonald's parking lot. On

July 6, the woman brought the journal to the high school, where officials

contacted police and told them who they thought might be the student.

Police obtained a search warrant to examine the 15-year-old's computer at

his house and found that he had made "numerous attempts and inquiries on the

Internet to obtain weapons," including the Uzi and black powder explosive. They

also discovered the videos in the boy's bedroom.

Dormer said the 15-year-old is a troubled teenager who was receiving

"special attention" in the school to deal with his problems.

"He felt that everyone was against him, the world was against him," Dormer

said. "He was having trouble in his relationships and he was very upset at life

in general and the world in general."

Neighbors at Lincoln Village trailer home park in Holbrook, where McDonough

lives, described him as a friendly young man who helps mow lawns or carry in

groceries, and were surprised by the allegations against him.

"He's the nicest boy in the park," said Elaine Pfister, 70. "He didn't hang

out with the kids that you would think might be trouble."

CONNETQUOT HIGH SCHOOL

SERVES: Bohemia, Oakdale, Ronkonkoma

GRADES: 9-12

STUDENTS: 2,279

TEACHERS, STAFF: 187

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 22-24

GRADUATES WHO PURSUE HIGHER EDUCATION: 90%

2007-08 BUDGET $148.4 million

FOUNDED: 1963

SOURCES: STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT ; SCHOOL WEB SITE