PLYMOUTH, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A Luzerne County man is locked up on Tuesday, charged with allegedly trying to recruit a 13-year-old to carry out a mass killing.
Plymouth Police say 18-year-old Riley Young, from Plymouth, used the social media app Snapchat to recruit the boy, as well as others, to kill people he says "wronged him."
Investigators tell 28/22 News that Young was bold and brazen and used Snapchat as part of his plan to kill people, and they believe he might have carried it out if not for a person involved in that Snapchat contacting police.
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"He was trying to recruit people in his plan to commit a violent act against anyone who wronged him," Chief Anthony Gorey of the Plymouth Police Department explained.
So says Gorey, that alleged murder plot was uncovered early Monday morning when someone involved in a Snapchat with Young and a 13-year-old boy contacted police.
"He was trying to convince him that he had a plan that involved guns, what to do with the guns, to dispose of them, that law enforcement wouldn't be able to trace them. He was trying to recruit people to help him with his plan," Gorey said.
Courtesy of the Plymouth Borough Police Department
The criminal complaint details part of that Snapchat between Young and the 13-year-old boy, identified in that chat as "JS."
Young: "It's over for me. If I don't kill myself I'ma end up killing all the (racial slur) who did me wrong and going away for life."
JS: "Hang in until tomorrow...I'm already cooking up a plan."
Young: "I can't ((racial slur)) I can't I'm freaking out tf out rn...I'm so close to grabbing my gun and going out and killing them all."
28/22 News' I-Team went to Young's Plymouth home to talk with family members about the investigation. No one answered the door.
Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sangeudolce says someone called police.
"And this is a case where, thankfully, people involved in this chat came forward. They came to their parents, they came to police, and we were able to stop this before it went any further," said DA Sangeudolce.
Investigators say Young did not have a "hit list" of people he wanted to kill.
The I-Team reached out to Snapchat for comment on this story. A spokesperson sent us links with information about how parents can protect their kids on Snapchat.
See the Family Safety Hub. Snapchat values, features on how to protect the community, and Snapchat values protections for teens on Snapchat.
