A second teenager has been taken into custody in connection with a Columbine-inspired plan to shoot up a rural Indiana high school.
In early January, Alexis Pickett, 17, of Rush County, was charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and intimidation. Pickett is accused of plotting a school shooting at Morristown Jr./Sr. High School for May 25, 2026.
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However, officials indicated Pickett did not want to carry out the mass massacre alone.
During the investigation into Pickett, investigators discovered that she was planning the attack in collaboration with a second person. Police identified Melanie Little, 17, from Corinth, Mississippi, as the second suspect. The duo had been chatting via numerous apps, including Telegram and Discord.
In messages shared between the two, Little and Pickett discussed shooting up Morristown High School and indicated having two shooters would boost their chances of “success.” At one point, Little even considered making the shooting “bigger and more successful than Columbine.”
Pickett recorded the inside of the school and provided them to Little, who “needed to know how to get in and out of the school,” according to the records.
The girls discussed getting guns, with Little stating how her stepfather still collected weapons despite being on probation, and Pickett saying she could get her hands on her father’s magnum pistol.
Little also considered constructing explosives such as IEDs and Molotov cocktails, as well as obtaining grenades or deadly gas. Little even considered escalating the attack from a school shooting to a “full-scale terror attack,” claiming the “tiny town” would be unprepared.
Pickett informed investigators that Little and she planned to fly to Indiana to carry out the mass massacre together. Little assured Pickett that she would inform her parents that she wanted to come to Indiana for Pickett’s graduation. When her mother stated she couldn’t travel that far, Little decided to simply “lie her a** off.”
According to court filings, Little shouted in a video made in November, “I’m gonna go to Indiana anyways, I’m gonna shoot up my friend’s school.”
In a follow-up video, Little reportedly discussed committing suicide during the school massacre and refusing to have her body sent home.
Both Little and Pickett discussed killing themselves at the end of their planned shooting, similar to how school shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed themselves after shooting and murdering 14 others at Columbine High School in April 1999.
Previous reports on Pickett describe her fascination with the Columbine shooters.
Shelby County Prosecutor Brad Landwerlen confirmed Little’s arrest on Wednesday. Mississippi authorities apprehended Little at her Corinth home. She is still being jailed without bond, and the Shelby County prosecutor intends to extradite her to Indiana to face her accusations.
