Teen identifying as transgender charged for planning mass shooting in Maryland kept disturbing 'manifesto'

An 18-year-old woman from Rockville, Maryland, who identifies as a man and claims to be transgender, has been taken into custody and charged for alleged plans to carry out a mass shooting at a local high school.

The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) arrested the suspect, Andrea Ye, on Wednesday after being notified by the FBI about a 129-page "manifesto" in which the teenager wrote about committing a school shooting, contemplated targeting an elementary school, and expressed other disturbing thoughts.

Andrea Ye, who is biologically female, identifies as a man and goes by the preferred name of "Alex," the Daily Mail reported. Police have clarified that the suspect is a biological female who was using male pronouns, but the legal system is treating her as an Asian female.

Court documents obtained by the Daily Wire reveal alarming excerpts from the "manifesto," which she claimed was fictional. However, an MCPD officer stated that the content mirrored actual events and was "based on reality with a plan of threats of mass violence."

In the manifesto, the suspect expressed a desire for fame, even infamy, and confessed to having pedophilic thoughts, although claiming not to have acted on them. She also mused about potential news stories covering a shooting at a Rockville school.

The court documents show that Ye conducted web searches on various mass shootings, including the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, where a transgender-identifying shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, murdered six people in March 2023.

The Maryland teenager appeared to be inspired by the Nashville shooter, writing that media coverage referring to the deceased shooter by her birth name rather than her preferred name, Aiden, made her want to change her own name legally before committing a shooting to ensure the news would not misgender her.

As a result of the investigation, the MCPD coordinated with Montgomery County Public Schools to increase security at schools, particularly Wootton High School. The suspect, who has not attended school in-person since December 2022 after threatening to "shoot up a school," has been hospitalized multiple times for homicidal and suicidal ideations.

Ye is currently being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit awaiting a bond hearing. A Wootton High School counselor informed the FBI that the suspect had expressed violent thoughts, such as shooting up the school, and suggested it could occur at graduation.