MOORESVILLE — A high school senior allegedly battling mental health issues is behind bars after allegedly making threats to shoot up Mooresville High School on Valentine’s Day, inspired by an obsession with a 2018 school shooter.
Detectives with the Mooresville Metropolitan Police Department, along with detectives at the Morgan County Sheriffs Office and officers from Mooresville School Police, arrested 18-year-old Trinity J. Shockley last Wednesday morning, Feb. 12, after receiving a tip from the FBI that the individual was planning a shooting at the high school.
Charges were filed against Shockley last Thursday by the Morgan County Prosecutor’s Office, including one count of Conspiracy to Commit Murder (a level 1 felony), and two counts of Intimidation: threat to commit terrorism (level 5 felonies). She is currently being held in the Morgan County Jail without bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Shockley allegedly chose Valentine’s Day in part because of her alleged infatuation with Parkland High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, who killed 14 students and injured 17 others on Feb. 14, 2018.
Mooresville police Det. Matthew D. McDaniel said in the probable cause affidavit that he received word at about 7 p.m. on Feb. 11 from the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office about a potential threat to Mooresville High School picked up from the FBI’s Sandy Hook Tip Line.
The tipster, who is named in the probable cause affidavit, was later identified as a 19-year-old woman from Addison, Wisc.
According to local news reports, Wisconsin authorities initially executed a search warrant of the tipster’s address, but afterward learned the tipster had no part in the plot to shoot up Mooresville High School.
Investigators then coached the tipster into obtaining Shockley’s phone number, which is how the authorities were able to learn Shockley’s location.
The tipster initially relayed that “their friend is planning a shooting in Indiana on the 14th of February.” The tipster also stated that their friend has access to an AR-15 gun and had just ordered a bulletproof vest online.
The tip to the FBI also included messages from the social media chat application Discord allegedly between Shockley — who allegedly goes by “Jamie” — and a user named TCC Mama wherein the two discuss a plan to shoot up Mooresville High School.
Jamie: I’ll be honest. I’m close to shooting mine up. I have an AR-15.
TCC Mama: That’s so cool! But wait, do you have a solid plan??
Jamie: Parkland part two. Of course. I’ve been planning this for a YEAR.
The affidavit goes on to say that earlier in the day on Feb. 11, Shockley asked to speak with a counselor at Mooresville High School. Shockley apparently spoke to the counselor about some ongoing issues, and disclosed that she was “sexually attracted” to the Parkland shooter and wanted to have “multiple children” with him. She allegedly revealed to the counselor a heart locket necklace with Nikolas Cruz’s photo inside.
On the morning of Feb. 12, officers executed a search warrant of Shockley’s home, where she lived with her father, and transported her to the Mooresville police station to be interviewed.
Shockley’s mother is described in the affidavit as having recently passed away from a drug overdose.
While executing the search warrant, police found a number of discoveries inside Shockley’s bedroom, including a photo collage of mass shooters Dylan Roof, Nickolas Cruz and Andrew Blaze. A poster for the movie Zero Day — about a school shooting — was allegedly on her wall.
Police also allegedly discovered three of Shockley’s journals, some of the contents of which were recorded in the probable cause affidavit.
The journals contain drawings of swastikas, and contain excerpts in which Shockley claims to be a transgender male named “Dex.” Additional journal entries detail how Shockley was a victim of relentless bullying, and repeatedly disparaged her classmates as “wastes of life.”
The journals also repeatedly express praise for Elliot Rodger, who killed six people in 2014 due to his hatred of women.
Shockley was interrogated by Det. Lindsay Hayden later on Feb. 12. Shockley allegedly told police she had been having a mental breakdown since the death of her mother and was fascinated by mass shooters. Shockley allegedly said she enjoyed watching videos of Nikolas Cruz’s police interrogation.
“When listening to Cruz, it would make her feel something in her, hearing about what he did,” Hayden’s report reads. “She hated him for what he did, and at the same time, she understood what he did. Cruz wanted to ruin Valentine’s Day and ruin the families because he did not have his own. She can relate to that because of the loss of her mom and people talking about their moms.”
Shockley appears to contradict herself multiple times in Hayden’s report. At one point, she allegedly said her online statements about shooting up Mooresville High School were jokes, but later allegedly said she had a plan to shoot students in the cafeteria because a high concentration of people would be there. Shockley allegedly planned to use an AR-15, but then changed her mind because she had trouble holding it.
According to Hayden’s report, Shockley allegedly said she planned to buy her own gun, but then allegedly changed her mind and decided she wanted to be a gun activist to “help people get out of that mind set.”
Shockley had previously made news in September 2022 after being struck by a suspected drunk driver while crossing the street to her school bus, resulting in serious injuries, including a skull fracture. She later returned to the Mooresville Police Department in the fall of 2022 to thank them for their efforts related to her accident, and the charges ultimately filed against the driver.
Shockley allegedly told Hayden during her interrogation that she learned the driver who stuck her later committed suicide, and she had felt guilt, believing that she “killed him.”
According to the probable cause affidavit, Shockley has a long history of mental health problems. She allegedly told Det. Hayden that she has bipolar disorder “like her mother.” Additionally, a guidance counselor at Mooresville High School told police that Shockley had sought mental health resources as far back as her freshman year, expressing suicidal ideation at the time.
The affidavit says each time Shockley would seek mental health assistance, her father would deny her access. It was allegedly the counselor’s understanding that Shockley’s father did not believe in mental health treatment, and “did not take his daughter’s conditions seriously.”
In November 2024, two weeks after she turned 18, she signed herself up for mental health services.
