US teenager planned carnage at school

A teenager has been charged with attempted murder after police found him outside school with 20 homemade bombs, a rifle and a note saying he wanted to injure everyone at his high school except for three friends.

Authorities believe they averted what could have been the worst school shooting since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School.

Josh Magee, 17, was arrested at Malcolm High School, Nebraska, after a staff member saw him drinking liquor from a flask and putting on a black overcoat.

Police who searched Magee’s car found a bolt-action rifle, several rounds of ammunition, small bottles of propane and rigged containers of a petroleum-based propellent.

“It had the potential of going badly,” said Superintendent Gene Neddenriep. “With this student, at this school, on this particular day, we were successful. We got lucky.”

Parents and school officials in the tiny town north of Lincoln said Magee often spoke about Columbine, where students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.

When students began reporting to faculty that Magee bragged of making and testing explosives at home, Neddenriep said, the school paid close attention to him.

Magee was held in a juvenile jail, but was charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder.

Neddenriep said the school of about 450 students would refine its safety policies in the wake of Magee’s arrest.