The Rockville teenager who threatened “to shoot up my school” in a 129-page manifesto that included another nearby elementary school in his plans was sentenced Wednesday. He received a sentence of 12 months followed by five years of tightly supervised probation.
Alex Ye, 19, has been incarcerated for 14 months since his arrest. His one-year sentence began Wednesday as he waived his right to count his time served.
The Wootton High School student was found guilty on Jan. 8 following a two-day trial.
“We thought this young man who was in transition, who had multiple institutionalizations prior to his arrest, posed a substantial threat to the community,” said State’s Attorney for Montgomery County John McCarthy following the sentencing.
His office had sought a 10-year sentence to be served at the Patuxent Youthful Offenders Program, which offers psychiatric and educational programs. The defense asked for time already served.
“Our goal was to protect the community and make sure that he was under the care and control of forensic psychiatrists and psychologists for an extended period of time,” McCarthy said.
Ye previously described his manifesto as a fictional book he was writing about a high school shooting.
He wrote “extensively” about shootings and even penned he planned to victimize younger students as they were “easier targets,” McCarthy said.
On the first page, he wrote, “I want to shoot up my school. I’ve been preparing for it for the past few months. As I sit in front of my dad’s gun case and stare at the sleek, black gun inside, all can think about is my finger on the trigger, taking aim, and killing people. The gun is an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle. It’s the kind of gun with long barrel and stock you put up against your shoulder. This gun is going to
change lives tomorrow.”
According to court records, on page two, Ye wrote, “As walk through the hallways, cherry pick the classrooms that are the easiest targets. These ones are close to the entrance and have windows in the doors. need to figure out how I’ll sneak the gun in. Maybe duffel bag will work. just hope security doesn’t stop me.”
“This was a troubled young man,” who had “repeated suicidal as well as homicidal ideations,” said McCarthy. “A lot of ear markings we’ve seen in some of these shootings around the county were present in this case, and it didn’t happen. We should feel thankful that it didn’t happen.”
McCarthy praised officials from Baltimore City Police and Johns Hopkins for informing Montgomery County about Ye.
A hearing is set for Sept. 25 for Ye’s attorneys to provide details on what will happen to him following his release.
Under the terms set Wednesday, Ye must come to court every two weeks to provide proof he is meeting terms of his probation. Some of those terms include receiving mental health treatment, engaging in community service and staying away from Wootton High School and Lakewood Elementary School.
He also must stay off the app “Discord.”
Former Police Chief Marcus Jones spoke at the time of Ye’s arrest.
