Police: Massacre Plot Foiled; Deadly Violence In Ukraine
COOPER: In crime and punishment tonight, authorities in Minnesota say a 17-year-old planned to kill as many students as he could in a school massacre. The plot they say, involving guns and bombs and would have begun with a high school junior killing his parents and sister. They said the plan was thwarted on Tuesday, thanks to some quick-thinking young women who some are calling heroes tonight. They say they spotted the suspect to acting suspiciously as he headed for a storage unit so they called 911. I spoke to one of them this evening.</s>KATIE HARTY, SAW TEEN SUSPECT (via phone): He walked right through our back yard full of water. So we were like, what is he doing? And then we saw him going to the storage and it took him like 10 minutes to get into it. But we thought he was just breaking in. So my cousin was going to go and knock on the door. But I told her not to. And I just told her to call the cops and have them deal with it because I didn't know what he was doing. So then the cops came and a few minutes later he was hauled away.</s>COOPER: Just word on why we're not mentioning the name of the suspect, it is because stories about mass killings and would-be mass killings should not be about the subjects, we believe. It should be about the people who likely would have lost their lives or saved lives. Here is Susan Candiotti with the latest on the investigation.</s>SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was right there in a notebook, tucked away in a guitar case. On those pages, police say, plans to kill and blow up as many students as possible at Waseca. Minnesota high school.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have escaped what could have been a horrific experience.</s>CANDIOTTI: A 17-year-old student is now accused of plotting a mass attack, meticulously writing down his every move starting last July. Somehow police say he managed to accumulate an arsenal including explosives, seven guns, ammo and three bombs found in his home and three more bombs and even more ingredients in the storage unit. Authorities say a friend's mom rented it for him. (on camera): Police say it was supposed to go down like this. The teenager plotting to shoot and kill his parents and sister at home. Then go to a nearby field set off a big fire to distract first responders, then rush to his high school to kill as many students as he could with bombs and bullets.</s>CAPT. KRIS MARKESON, WASECA POLICE DEPARTMENT: He intended to set off numerous bombs during the lunch hour, kill the school resource officer as he responded to help, set fires and shoot students and staff.</s>CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Originally the planned attack was set for the anniversary of Columbine. But because it fell on Easter Sunday this year, the plot was delayed. The police say the accused teen idolized the students behind the Columbine School shooting, even though he was only 2 years old when it happened. In the journal, police also found notes on the shootings at Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School. The investigators even recovered a pressure cooker, the same kind of bomb used to maim and kill at the Boston marathon.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can either believe that this occurred as a result of a lucky break or as I do, choose to believe that God was looking out for all of us.</s>CANDIOTTI: Investigators credit two young women who became suspicious when they saw someone wearing a backpack going into this storage shed and called police.</s>CHELSIE SCHELLHAS, WITNESS: He shut the door and I thought it looked funny because normally we see people come here and it doesn't take 10 minutes to open up a storage shed. So that is why I called it in.</s>CANDIOTTI: Inside that shed, police confronted the teenager, confiscated an array of bombs and other ingredients for even more, foiling the plot.</s>KATIE HARTY, SAW TEEN SUSPECT: It has not really sunk in yet. Like we have been getting flowers and people are mentioning us on Facebook. I'm glad we did what we did.</s>CANDIOTTI: At the time, not knowing they may have saved countless lives. Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.</s>COOPER: Incredible. There is a lot more happening tonight. Randi Kaye has a 360 Bulletin -- Randi.</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, police in Nigeria now say more than 200 girls were kidnapped at a boarding school more than two weeks ago. Authorities say dozens escaped from their captors. Nigeria's militant Islamist group, but over 223 girls are still missing. At this rally Thursday, the crowd called for their safe return. In North Eastern Afghanistan, an official fears of 2,700 are dead after a massive landslide. So far the official death is 350. And Bill Gates no longer Microsoft's biggest shareholder after selling nearly eight million shares of stock over the last couple of days, he now owns roughly 330 million shares, just behind the company's former CEO, Steve Balmer, his famous is on his foundation -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: All right, Randi, thanks. We have more breaking news now, the crisis in Ukraine, which has only gotten much bloodier in the last 24 hours. Deadly street fighting in Odessa. Choppers gunned down elsewhere. Russia and the west squaring off diplomatically. President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussing tougher sanctions. Mr. Obama warning Russia not to further militarize its dispute with Ukraine.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If in fact, Mr. Putin's goal is to allow Ukrainians to make their own decisions then he is free to offer up his opinions about what he would like the relationship to be between Ukraine and Russia, and I suspect that there will be a whole lot of Ukrainian leaders who will take those views into consideration. They can't be done at the barrel of a gun. It can't be done by sending masked gunmen to occupy buildings or to intimidate journalists.</s>COOPER: Well, joining us now where some of those masked gunmen. Arwa Damon has more. Arwa, what is the latest?</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, at this stage it seems that the situation has slightly calmed down. But just a few hours ago the Ukrainian forces that were positioning themselves out of the city of Slavyansk, that is where they made their push this morning came under attack by pro-Russian militants. According to the government at least two Ukrainian soldiers were killed. And then of course you have the violence that flared up in what was previously a fairly calm area. Odessa in the southern part of the country. Clashes breaking out between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian camps. There, at least four people were killed initially. And then a fire broke out in the main administration building. More than 30 people killed because of smoke inhalation, others because they tried to jump out of the windows. But Anderson, the situation is growing incredibly grim here by the day.</s>COOPER: And just the other day they say they were helpless against the armed separatists. Now they seem to be pushing hard against them. Does the government have a plan? Are they capable of projecting force?</s>DAMON: Well, they have the military troops in position right now outside of Slavyansk. It seems as if those troops are under orders to simply hold the outskirts, the perimeter of this city. We need to see if another force may move in and re-take the buildings. That is going to be incredibly difficult, Anderson, because of where they're located in the very center of these cities. As you mentioned here where we are in Donetsk and Luhantsk, regaining that in Ukraine will prove to be very difficult. And if they do take the military option, potentially very bloody.</s>COOPER: All right, Arwa Damon, stay safe. Thanks very much. Up next, Raphael Sollecito speaking out tonight on CNN regarding the case of Amanda Knox and what he has to say about the case, the new allegations. Also ahead, a very mysterious and deadly virus believed to have originated from the Middle East, turns up for the first time in the United States. I'll talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta how worrisome this development is and what you need to know about it.