Four Center Grove students were being held at the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center, pictured, after being arrested in a plot to take over the high school.
Daily Journal Archives
News from around Johnson County as reported on March 7 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 112 years.
On this day in 2006, one of the top stories on the front page of the Daily Journal was about a plot to take Center Grove High School students hostage and ask for millions of dollars as a ransom.
Four teen boys were planning to take control of the school, using at least one gun owned by the teen’s families. They planned to take their principal hostage, confine the student body and demand $4 million and getaway cars.
The teens never specified a date but said an ideal situation would be one where a majority of the school was located in one area, like a pep rally. The boys were tired of being made fun of by student athletes and also wanted money, then-Johnson County Sheriff Terry McLaughlin said.
Other student’s were recruited as part of the teens’ plan.
The boys were arrested earlier in March after students overheard them talking about their plans and told school officials.
By March 7, 2006, the boys were being held in juvenile detention, pending formal charges.
It was still being determined whether the teens would be tried in juvenile or adult court. Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner wanted to find out how involved in the plan each of the four teens were and decide if a move to adult court was appropriate.
So far, the investigation had shown varying levels of involvement for each student, he said.
The four teens were charged in juvenile court the following week.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2014
Franklin Community Schools was considering allowing advertisements on the sides of school buses to make up revenue lost by property tax cap
2012
The city of Greenwood was reviewing a proposal to launch a stormwater utility.
1992
The Franklin Fire Department received a job application from a Russian man.
