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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A teenage boy who authorities say plotted a mass shooting at an Ohio high school has pleaded no contest to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
Seventeen-year-old John Staley III entered the plea Tuesday in a Columbus courtroom.
Authorities say Staley was suspended from Hilliard Davidson High School in 2016 after a student heard him discussing a shooting plot on a school bus. Prosecutors said Staley created diagrams of the school, tried to recruit other students and wrote down weapons and ammunition that would be needed.
Prosecutors said searches of Staley's electronic devices found Nazi, neo-Nazi and racist information and sites glorifying school shooters.
The Columbus Dispatch reports Staley's attorney says he was prepared to dispute some facts presented by prosecutors had there been a trial.
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