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Teen accused of plotting bombing, mass shooting at New Smyrna Beach school

A tweet helped investigators foil a New Smyrna Beach High School student's bombing and shooting plot, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
 
Devon Foster, 15, of Edgewater, was arrested Monday afternoon after he admitted he was plotting a bombing and a mass shooting at the school, said Andrew Gant, a VCSO spokesman.
 
The investigation began Sept. 4 after Foster allegedly tweeted the following as he was in the school nurse's clinic, showing signs of strep throat: "One million retweets and I'll blow up the school."
 
Investigators said the tweet was deleted less than a minute after it was posted, but it was followed by a tweet with a close-up photo of what appeared to be an open throat with white spots and the text: "strep throat, long weekend, suicidal and dangerous thoughts."
 
When deputies tracked Foster down in class, he denied planning any violence, but because of the serious nature of the threats, he was Baker Acted and expelled from the high school, Gant said.
 
"Deputies seized Foster's phone for a forensic examination and extracted hundreds of pages of text messages, web postings and photos," Gant said. "Foster wrote multiple entries about how first responders and school administrators 'always forget the explosives' and illustrated making and setting off pipe bombs in a specific location of the high school."
 
Foster also studied footage of the Columbine High School shootings and posted photos of himself posing with a handgun and a BB gun, investigators said.
 
While searching Foster's home, investigators didn't find any bomb-making materials, but they believe he was capable of obtaining weapons and building explosives, Gant said.
 
"The Sheriff's Office, through a multi-jurisdictional Joint Terrorism Task Force, worked closely with the FBI in investigating this case and preventing Foster from carrying out his plan," Gant said.
 
Foster was under the care of an outpatient behavioral health program until he was booked into the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Daytona Beach Tuesday.
 
He is charged with four counts of making threats to discharge a destructive device and one count of making written threats to kill or do harm.
 
Investigators believe Foster was acting alone.