A teenager who admitted to planning a mass shooting at an Indiana high school has been sentenced to prison.
Trinity Shockley was sentenced on Nov. 24 to 20 years behind bars, with eight years suspended, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, according to online court records. Once her prison term is complete, she will serve five years on probation.
In court, the 19-year-old became emotional and apologized both to one of the intended targets and to the wider community. “I am so sorry I put you in that position of fear,” she said, according to WFYI-FM. Referring to her mental health, Shockley added, “It’s gotten a lot better since I’ve been surrounded by people that care about me.”
Shockley was arrested after the FBI’s Sandy Hook tip line received a report from a friend who claimed the 12th-grade student was planning a mass shooting at Mooresville High School on Feb. 14, per a probable cause affidavit previously obtained by NBC News, ABC News and CBS affiliate WLKY.
The tipster told authorities that Shockley had “access to an AR15 and has just ordered a bulletproof vest,” and that she “admired” Nikolas Cruz, who carried out the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the affidavit states, per NBC News. Shockley had also claimed in the past that she was a victim of bullying.
Her attorney, Joseph Gaunt, argued that Shockley never truly intended to carry out the attack. “She knew she couldn’t do it, but she kept talking about it,” he said, per WFYI-FM. “That’s what makes this case hard.”
Morgan County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Cassie Mellady said she believed the sentence reflected the seriousness of the conduct. “In this case, there was a significant amount of planning that was involved, so I tried to match the plea agreement to that,” she told WTHR.
After the sentencing, the FBI’s Indianapolis office issued a statement on social media, calling the case a “powerful reminder that when the public speaks up, lives can be saved.”
