'We Should Thank God': Middle School Student Decides Last-Minute NOT to Carry Out School Shooting

Will Maule : Mar 5, 2018
Faithwire.com

The First Christian Church of Massillon, Ohio claimed the boy's mother was part of their community, as reported by Heavy.com. "Misty and Tommy have been active in ministry at FCC for over a year. We've come to know and love them. Please continue to keep them and their family in your prayers," the post said of Keith's mother and her fiancee.

[Faithwire.com] A student from an Ohio middle school who apparently sought to unleash a mass shooting on his classmates, made a fateful last moment change that likely spared countless lives. (Photo: Keith Simons/Facebook/via Faithwire.com)

But the story still has a tragic ending, as 13-year-old Keith Simons instead decided to turn the gun on himself and take his own life.

Simons emerged from the bathroom holding a semi-automatic rifle just before classes were set to begin for the day. He then dashed back inside and shot himself in the head, according to Jackson Township Police Chief Mark Brink.

"We should thank God every day, whatever made him change his mind," Brink said, adding that it is likely the police will never know why the boy had a sudden change of heart. Investigators discovered a series of messages on his cellphone that indicated the teen had been planning a shooting attack for at least a week at Jackson Middle School, near Massillon.

The teen also expressed admiration for the shooters in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, according to Fox 13.

"I'd hurt and destroy something bigger but my schools an easy target," Simons wrote in one message found on his cellphone. "I want to leave a lasting impression on the world," he added in another message written just days before he took the.22-caliber gun to his school on Feb. 20. "I'm going to die doing it"...

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