Police to Patrol School After Arrests in Plot

Students were encouraged to return to North Pole Middle School with the assurance that police would patrol the halls following the weekend arrest of six seventh-graders suspected of plotting a deadly attack.

Nine other seventh-graders were suspended in connection with the elaborate scheme to allegedly kill faculty and students using guns and knives.

“We’re going to have school,” said Principal Ernie Manzie. “We feel that all the students involved are not at school so it’s safe.”

The boys, who could face charges of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, are at the Fairbanks Youth Facility.

North Pole Police Chief Paul Lindhag said the boys had planned to disable the school’s power and telephone systems, giving them time to kill their victims and leave town.