A group of fifth-grade students were arrested last fall over an alleged plot to murder a fellow student after being overheard discussing their plans, according to a newly released police report.
Four students at the Legacy Traditional School in Surprise, Arizona, were accused of planning to fatally stab a fellow fifth grade student and forge a suicide note to make it appear self-inflicted, according to the police report. A parent alerted the school of the plot on Oct. 1, 2024, after their child overheard the group talking about it.
The students and their parents were instructed to come back to the school the following morning for the school’s investigation, per the report.
Through the investigation, it was found that one of the accused students, a girl, was allegedly in a “relationship” with the victim, a boy, who had cheated on her, according to the report. The girl hated him and wanted him dead, the report said.
During a lunch on Oct. 1, 2024, the students were involved in a conversation on how to “end him,” the report said. According to interviews with the suspects, the plan involved allegedly luring the boy to a bathroom and stabbing him in the stomach.
They would wear gloves so as not to leave behind fingerprints and forge a suicide note, the report said.
One of the students interviewed said she had walked over while the group was discussing the plot and made jokes about it, according to the report. But the girl insisted that she was joking while the other students “started to get serious” and she began to back off as a result, the report said.
Another student told police that he was part of the conversation because he didn’t want the others to think he was “weird and not wanting to do it,” according to the report. This student said he didn’t think the others would actually do it and that he didn’t want to be a part of it.
A third student said conversations about allegedly plotting to kill the student made her uncomfortable, but she ultimately thought her fellow students were joking, according to the report. When she was assigned the role of guard, she realized “they were serious,” she said.
The parent of the victim, who was identified in the report, told police that she wanted to “aid in prosecution of the students,” who allegedly plotted to kill her son, the report said. The parent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The four students — two 10 year olds and two 11 year olds — were all arrested for one count of threatening and another count of disorderly conduct, per the report. The students were released into the custody of their parents and suspended, pending expulsion.
Three students and their families showed remorse and the students apologized, according to the report. A fourth student and her parent did not appear to be phased, and the student “would smile and laugh and made excuses for the actions,” the report said.
In a statement, Legacy Traditional School said the safety and well-being of their students is their top priority and that the school immediately addressed the incident after learning about it.
“Due to federal student privacy laws, we cannot discuss individual student disciplinary matters,” the statement read. “As outlined in the Legacy Student Code of Conduct, any student who makes or shares a threat may face disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion.”
Parents of the suspected students did not immediately respond to NBC’s requests for comment.
