Father thwarts school attack

NBC News – (NBC News) A high school senior's plan to carry out a mass shooting at Maryland's Catoctin High School unraveled Monday after her father read her diary and called school authorities.

"We averted a catastrophe," said Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins.

Investigators say the diary of 18-year-old Nichole Cevario detailed a well-developed plan to carry out the attack, with a set date of April 5.

"You can see the actual escalations, the frustrations, the planning, putting it together, and how she was going to pull it off," Sheriff Jenkins said.

The teen's writings referenced the Columbine and Newtown school shootings, focusing on mistakes she thought the gunmen had made in those cases.

Inside her home investigators found a shotgun, ammunition and stockpiles of fireworks, shrapnel, and fuses.

Her father, who read her dairy after noting a change in the teen's behavior and finding shotgun shells in her backpack, is now being praised for making the tough decision to turn his daughter in.

Cevario was immediately taken out of class and sent to a hospital for a mental evaluation.