Columbine-Like School Shooting Plot Foiled; Gabby Petito Mourned

Good morning! It’s Monday, Sept. 27. Here’s your quick read to kick off another work week.

• California has banned all state-funded travel to Ohio after the Midwest state enacted an anti-LGBTQ law.
• A group of Pennsylvania teenagers have been charged in an apparent school shooting plot to take place on April 20, 2024, the 25th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting in Colorado.
• Three people were killed and several others injured when an Amtrak train derailed near the U.S.-Canada border in Montana.
• Search crews in Florida narrowed the area where they are looking for Brian Laundrie, as mourners lined up to remember Gabby Petito in New York.
• There’s a new NFL record for the longest field goal ever hit, which came as a new way for the Detroit Lions to lose.

Columbine-Style Attack Thwarted

Four teenagers in Pennsylvania have been charged in what authorities have said was a school shooting plot similar to the Columbine High School tragedy. The plot included a plan to shoot people at the school on April 20, 2024, which will be the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.

Court documents say the mother of one of the teens charged said her daughter is “obsessed” with Columbine.

The teens charged weren’t even born yet at the time the Columbine shootings shocked the nation in 1999, when 13 people were killed and more than 20 injured at the high school in Littleton, Colorado.

One of the text messages exchanged between the kids included one calling “dibs” on a particular victim, court documents show. Read the full story from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Patch

Gabby Petito Mourned

Hundreds of mourners lined up outside the Moloney Funeral Home in Holbrook, New York, on Sunday to pay their final respects to Gabby Petitio, the native New Yorker who was found slain a week ago at a campground area of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Photographs from Petito's life decorated the inside of the funeral home while her favorite music played in the background. Prayer cards feature a painting of Petito with a halo and angel wings while surrounded by doves.

"It's safe to say that she's touched all of us, not just here in this chapel today but, but everyone across the country, and in the world," funeral director Connor Moloney said. Read more from Patchogue, New York, Patch

Meanwhile, in Florida, law enforcement teams have narrowed the search for Brian Laundrie, Petito’s fiancé. The search area is now within the Carlton Reserve, where police believe the missing 23-year-old is hiding. Read more from Sarasota, Florida, Patch

Follow all Gabby Petito coverage via Patch

State-Funded Travel Banned

Officials in California have said the state will ban state-funded travel to Ohio over the Midwest state’s new legislation that allows medical providers to deny care to LGBTQ Americans.

"Blocking access to life-saving care is wrong. Period," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Sunday. "Whether it's denying a prescription for medication that prevents the spread of HIV, refusing to provide gender-affirming care, or undermining a woman's right to choose, House Bill 110 unnecessarily puts the health of Americans at risk." Read more from Los Angeles Patch

Mom, Toddler Fall To Their Deaths

A San Diego woman and her 2-year-old son died when they fell from a third level concourse at Petco Park, just before the San Diego Padres were set to take on the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

The game went on as planned. Read more from San Diego Patch

Train Derailment

Three people were killed and several others injured when an Amtrak train derailed just miles from the U.S.-Canada border in northern Montana. Read more from Across America Patch

Booze Sales Record

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said sales for the last fiscal year, 2020-2021, totaled $2.9 billion, a $349.4 million increase over the total from 2019-2020. The numbers are in line with the results of a recent poll that shows Americans increased their alcohol intake during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more from Pittsburgh Patch

Record-Breaking Field Goal

Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker hit a 66-yard field goal, the longest in NFL history, to give the Ravens a win over the still winless Detroit Lions on Sunday. via Baltimore Patch

House Porn: A 35-acre estate, renovated 1940s classic and picturesque Victorian are among this week’s Maryland dream homes.

Today In History

The first Model T Ford production car was released from the Ford plant in Detroit on Sept. 27, 1908.

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• Boston Marathon Date Is Latest In History, via Boston Patch

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