A Florida man allegedly planned mass shootings and stabbing sprees at Okeechobee High School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and a church in Florida but was foiled after a routine traffic stop, authorities said.
Palm Beach County authorities charged Henry Horton IV, 19, with making written threats to kill after a Jupiter police officer, conducting a traffic stop on the evening of Sept. 18, allegedly found handwritten notes from the suspect detailing his morbid plans.
After initially pulling Horton over for a broken headlight, the officer asked for his consent to search his vehicle and discovered “multiple, handwritten pages stating a plan to purchase firearms, and ‘kill everyone at OHS with my guns,’ which was later discovered to stand for ‘Okeechobee High School,’” an arrest affidavit filed earlier this month states.
The officer then spoke with Horton, who told him that he was planning on killing an administrator at Okeechobee High School, where he graduated last year, according to the affidavit.
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Palm Beach County authorities charged Henry Horton IV, 19, with making written threats to kill after a Jupiter police officer conducting a traffic stop on the evening of Sept. 18 found handwritten notes from the suspect detailing his morbid plans. (Palm Beach County)
“Horton was planning on executing the plan on his 22nd birthday January 2, 2026, at approximately 1130 hours. Once he had killed [the administrator], Horton wished to murder another 14 people, accounting to a total of 15 victims. After this plan was executed, he wanted to drive down to Miami, FL to a church named ‘El Rey Jesus’ and go on a ‘stabbing spree’ and murder another 10 subjects,” the affidavit states.
The officer also located a bong and three filet-style knives in Horton’s vehicle during the traffic stop.
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“Horton advised he has been having multiple thoughts about mass homicide and wanted to execute them once he turned 22 years old,” the affidavit states. “Horton also stated he has had mental health issues in the past. Horton said when he lived in Virginia, he voluntarily admitted himself into a medical facility for a mental health evaluation due to having similar thoughts.”
An officer allegedly asked Horton, a Dominos employee in Okeechobee County, where he was heading before police pulled him over. The suspect replied that he was heading to El Rey Jesus church in Miami to “recon,” or survey, the area where he allegedly planned to carry out a mass “stabbing spree” and murder 10 people after completing his shooting at Okeechobee High School, according to the affidavit.
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Authorities advised Horton that he would be charged with possession drug paraphernalia and then transported him to a nearby hospital for a mental health evaluation.
On Sept. 27, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy began assisting with an investigation into Horton’s alleged plans and interviewed the suspect at the hospital where he was being evaluated.
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When asked again about his alleged plans to commit mass killings at Okeechobee High School and El Rey Jesus, Horton stated, “I guess I just don’t like religion,” and “I guess I just want to attack a bunch of random people.” He also expressed the desire to get back at his stepmother for kicking him out of the house in April “to prove” he had “lost his mind or something,” the affidavit says.
Horton would go on to admit to the deputy that he had a manifesto inside his vehicle when he was pulled over on Sept. 18.
“When asked if he has done any other recon anywhere else … he stated that he has gone to costal church in Parkland Florida near Marjory Stoneman Douglas,” where school shooter Nikolas Cruz opened fire on Feb. 14, 2018, killing 17 people.
Coconut Creek, Florida, police officer Michael Leonard takes a moment with his School Safety Dog, Taylor, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, as he visits a memorial in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Leonard was the officer who stopped and arrested the shooter Nikolas Cruz. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
“When questioned what has he done for recon, he stated that he went there on a school day and watched a bunch of people outside and thought ‘hmm interesting’ [sic]. Then went over to the Dollar Tree near the school. Horton stated that this was done approximately a month ago. When asked why he would attack the school he stated ‘for attention or fame,’” the affidavit reads.
He went on to tell the deputy that he did not currently own any firearms but expressed his plans to purchase a firearm “where people don’t know him” in order to carry out his attack plans.
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The officer got Horton’s consent to search his iPhone, on which he found plans for Horton’s 22nd birthday to carry out the attacks.
“So, I want to set | things straight. I want to mass murder 50 people in a single event,” one of his phone notes allegedly said. “I feel like I can’t be fired. Which if it’s related to my autism then, yes I can’t be fired for that cause that is discrimination. But back on topic, I will buy some pistols and assault rifles and then formulate the rest of it by then. I’ll have pictures from Apple Maps of the locations that I will be at.”
The notes went on to say that he would begin his attack at Walmart followed by Okeechobee High School and a church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He would then drive to “Eastlawn” where he would “kill” his father and stepmother. He would then “drive to the United Nations Building in New York,” Horton allegedly wrote.
“I want to kill people.”
His notes also allegedly detailed a plan titled “operation MM” in which Horton described his desire to gather “112 other people” as “fanatical” as him to carry out mass shootings in every Southern state on the same day, killing “1120 people.”
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“I want some of my family dead,” Horton wrote in another note, according to the affidavit. “I want my father to die. I want my stepmom to die as well. I’m not fine. I will perhaps never be fine again. I’ll probably be like this for the rest of my life. I don’t care. Just like I don’t care about dying before 23. I want my boyfriend (I’m, gay). I want to cut him and slit his throat”.
Based on his statements to officers, authorities arrested and charged Horton with written threats to kill or do harm.
