Wisconsin tip leads to arrest in Mooresville school shooting plot

MOORESVILLE, Ind. — Investigators in Wisconsin may have helped prevent a school shooting in Mooresville this week.

FOX59/CBS4 has learned new information about how multiple agencies collaborated to investigate an anonymous tip that originated in Wisconsin and connect it to 18-year-old Trinity Shockley, who police say was allegedly planning a school shooting on Valentine’s Day.

According to the news release, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received a tip from the Wisconsin Department of Justice on Feb. 10 regarding threats to commit a school shooting. The initial tip did not identify a particular school.

An anonymous tipster contacted the Sandy Hook Promise Violence Hotline and claimed that a 19-year-old woman from the town of Addison, Wisconsin, was possibly planning to carry out a mass shooting. Authorities moved quickly and proceeded to monitor the suspect’s residence as they launched an investigation.

Authorities soon determined the woman was not a student and that there were no local schools that were at risk of being potentially targeted. The FBI also learned that this tip was related to two separate social media accounts that the suspect was possibly connected to.

The FBI confirmed that one of these accounts did belong to the anonymous woman and managed to secure screenshots of conversations that were posted in an online chat group that discussed school shooters. The tipster provided authorities with pictures reportedly showing weapons, magazines, a tactical vest, and “screenshots of the suspect’s bedroom which had numerous photographs of past school shooters.”

A SWAT team proceeded to execute a search warrant at the Addison woman’s home and brought the 19-year-old into custody. Further analysis of the messages revealed that the woman had not made any threats, according to the newest release.

Investigators in Washington County were able to connect all of the information they had collected up to that point to Trinity Shockley, who they suspected of making the actual threats.

The release revealed that a Washington County detective “befriended” Shockley on social media as they sought to obtain more user information for their investigation. The Addison woman assisted authorities by acquiring the phone number of the actual suspect.

All of this information was then turned over to the FBI Indianapolis Field Office, which says Shockley has confessed to planning to commit a shooting at Mooresville High School on Valentine’s Day.

Shockley was arrested in Mooresville on Thursday and booked into the Morgan County Jail on the following preliminary charges:

• One count of Conspiracy to Commit Murder, a Level 1 Felony
• One count of Intimidation: Threat to Commit Terrorism, a Level 5 Felony
• One count of conspiracy to commit Intimidation: Threat to Commit Terrorism, a Level 5 Felony

The release noted that no charges are expected to be filed against the Addison woman after she was released from custody Tuesday afternoon.

Shockley appeared in an initial hearing on Friday. She is currently being held without bond at the Morgan County Jail. A jury trial is scheduled to commence on June 10.

Washington County Sheriff Martin Schulteis said the diligent work of detectives helped avoid a “catastrophe.”

“An absolute catastrophe was thwarted because this tipster who wants to remain anonymous came forward. I have expressed my gratitude to them personally,” Schulteis said. “As I sit back and think about the gravity of this investigation and what horrific outcomes could have occurred if it does not play out the way it did, I cannot help but be humbled by the dedication and performance of my staff.”