January 14, 2025
Andrea 'Alex' Ye guilty of threatening to commit an act of mass violence
Alex Ye, 18, was arrested in Maryland in April 2024, after the FBI and Montgomery County police thwarted the teenager’s plans to commit a school shooting.
Alex Ye, born Alexandra Ye, is an American citizen and Rockville resident who identifies as trans.
Ye penned an 18 chapter, 129-page memoir, chapters of which they shared with a friend over Instagram DMs. The pair met while at a psychiatric facility, and remained in contact online once discharged.
The friend, known as Witness One, informed Baltimore County Police that Ye sent a DM to Witness One saying he had "finished writing his book," and wanted to share a portion of it via google drive, sharing a link in the chat.
According to Witness One, the events in the story were scheduled to happen the following day.
The concerned friend forwarded the documents to police, who, along with the FBI, began to investigate.
The character in Ye's document, which has been described as both a “story” and a “manifesto,” reflects Ye themself; an Asian American, bullied by the other students, transgender, and having had issues with fellow students in both elementary school and high school.
The character in the story, whose name is Jason Wang, plans how to carry out the shooting, talks about firearms, as well as selecting targets, and thoughts of wanting to harm small children.
Rockville City Police carried out a welfare check at Ye's home, where he lived with his family. Ye's father did not allow officers to enter without a warrant, and said he was confident if Ye was having thoughts of harming others, that he would confide in his therapist. Ye's father also said that although he hadn't read the book, he knew the book was being written and said it was fictional and not based on Ye.
The manifesto also came with a disclaimer, stating: "This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This is not a threat of violence, nor does it represent the author's beliefs.”
Investigation revealed that Ye had threatened to commit a school shooting in December 2022.
He was released in January 2023, however, was reportedly still struggling with thoughts of self-harm, as well as a fixation on school shootings.
According to police documents, Ye had purchased a BB gun from amazon, and had been talking about committing suicide by cop.
The application for statement of charges included paragraphs lifted from the text, including passages that read:
"The gun is an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle. It's the kind of gun with a long barrel and a stock you put up against your shoulder. This gun is going to change lives tomorrow," and "Thought I enjoy the hunting aspect of guns, I have contemplated making bombs. The instructions to make them are surprisingly available online."
Other paragraphs included statements like: "I have also considered shooting up my former elementary school because little kids make easier targets," and "I don't bother posting any cheesy 'Don’t go to school tomorrow if you value your life" posts for my hundred or so Instagram followers."
Ye was evaluated at his home in early March of 2024, and was transported to Suburban Hospital. The staff there stated that they were so concerned by Ye, that they felt required by law to break confidentiality and contact both the authorities and Wootton High School where Ye was enrolled, for fear that he would act on his threats.
Ye had confided in his therapist, whom he had sessions with from the fall of 2022 - February 2023, that he often had thoughts about shooting up both Wootton High and the elementary school he had attended. He expressed the desire to become infamous from the shootings.
Ye’s devices were confiscated by police, including an iPhone, iPad, and various laptops. Searches of the devices revealed that Ye was active in school shooter groups on discord servers online.
In an Instagram chat with the friend who reported him, Ye admitted that he wanted people to make fan art of him, to talk about him, and to be on the news.
When asked if he wanted to be a serial killer he said: "Yes. But serial killing is harder. I also feel like shooting people would be fun and causing fear."
When asked what had stopped him from shooting up a school already, he said: "Not having a gun," as well as wanting to have a well thought out plan, which correlated with Ye's therapist saying he was willing to "play the long game." Ye also told witness one that he wanted to "have a glow up so more people simp for me."
Alex Ye was found guilty on one count of threat of mass violence after a two-day bench trial in December 2024.
His sentencing hearing is set for February 28, 2024.
He could face up to 10 years behind bars.
January 07, 2025
