When police raided the home of a 13-year-old boy last July, they found a military uniform, a Confederate flag, a hard drive filled with evidence of white nationalist radicalization and a guide to making bombs. What they didn’t find was weapons.
This was in Britain, where owning a gun is outlawed in most cases and gun-related homicides are extremely rare, NBC News reported. Like other disaffected, radicalized youths, the boy, who can’t be named due to legal restrictions, was inspired by the global cycle of terrorism that fuels attacks from New Zealand to Buffalo, New York — but he lacked the deadly means to add his name to that morbid cult’s list of would-be martyrs.
A youth court heard that police raided the boy’s home after he had sent messages on Instagram saying he wanted to replicate the 1999 Columbine school massacre in Colorado and attack an orphanage.
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Mass Shootings in the U.S. Since 1982
Incidents where 3 or more people were killed, not including the shooter.
Source: Mother Jones, NBC reporting
Last updated: May 25, 2025
The boy, who is from the town of Darlington in northeast England and is now 14, pleaded guilty to three terrorism charges last week and was given a referral order, meaning he will undergo 12 months of rehabilitation.
Read the full story at NBCNews.com.
