On Tuesday April 23, Wootton and Albert Einstein high schools both received bomb threats, resulting in a shelter-in-place at Wootton and an evacuation at Einstein. These threats were issued on the tail of the arrest of an 18-year-old Wootton student who threatened to incite a school shooting in a detailed manifesto found inside his home.
Wootton students were placed in a shelter-in-place at approximately 10:30 a.m. due to a bomb threat. Only after the police searched the school with K9s was the threat deemed not credible. The shelter-in-place was lifted at approximately 11:00 a.m.. Shortly afterward, Albert Einstein received a similar bomb threat and decided to evacuate the building. The threat at Einstein was also deemed not credible by police and students were allowed back inside the school at 11:30 a.m.
These threats come at an already tumultuous time after Wootton student Alex Ye was arrested on Wednesday, April 17. A 129-page manifesto was found in Ye’s home that detailed plans to commit a school shooting against his high school and former elementary school.
The FBI and MCPD were alerted of the threat on March 3 by someone who Ye had befriended and shown the manifesto to. On March 21, officers obtained a search warrant for the house. Inside, officers found internet searches, drawings and documents of threats of mass violence belonging to Ye, including the manifesto.
The manifesto, written as a novel, included an Asian, transgender main character who had been previously hospitalized for psychiatric care, mirroring Ye’s real life. The manifesto spoke of becoming famous for the shootings and targeting his former elementary school because “little kids make easier targets.”
Ye has a history of violent threats and mental health issues as he was hospitalized for a school shooting threat in 2022 and previously treated for homicidal and suicidal thoughts in 2023. Ye is currently being held without bond in a Montgomery County jail with his trial set to start in June. If convicted, Ye could face the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
