Alex Ye, 19, of Rockville, was found guilty on one count of Threat of Mass Violence Wednesday. Ye faces a maximum of ten years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb, 28.
Alex Ye. Photo courtesy: MCPD
Judge Cummins presided over a two-day bench trial which concluded on Dec. 10, 2024, and issued her verdict today at the Circuit Court for Montgomery County.
Ye was arrested on April 16, 2024, after an investigation prompted by a 911 call from a concerned associate. Ye and this individual were communicating over Instagram and Ye sent a file containing a written 129-page manifesto about a high school shooting. In the book, Ye also mentioned the possibility of carrying out a shooting at an elementary school.
In December of 2022, Ye was hospitalized after making statements to a counselor at Wootton High School about wanting to “shoot up” his school.
The Montgomery County Police Behavior Assessment Unit obtained records from multiple social media platforms, including Instagram and Discord, and reviewed thousands of pages of records that revealed Ye’s consistent obsession with school shootings and school shooters. It was those records that provided the context to the written manifesto that led to the judge finding that this was a true threat.
