Florida Students Apprehended After Planning to Carry Out a Mass Shooting Imitating the Columbine Massacre

Two Florida students in middle school have been ordered to stay at a juvenile detention center after the two had allegedly planned to do a mass shooting like the Columbine massacre in 1999.

The students were Phillip Byrd and Connor Pruett, 14 years old and 13 years old, respectively, according to a Daily Mail report.

Both are eighth-grade students at Harns Marsh Middle School and had appeared in front of a judge, who ordered that the two be held at least 21 days in a juvenile detention center.

A map with marks of where its security cameras was found by the school administration.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said during a press conference that it could have been the next Parkland massacre, but they stopped the students in the planning stages, according to an NBC News report. Marceno added that they were one second away from the Columbine massacre.

Investigations on Florida Students Planning the Mass Shooting

The school officials had alerted Lee County police. Detectives then discovered that the boys were thoroughly studying the Columbine shooting.

Authorities added that the two were attempting to learn how to build a pipe bomb and were researching how to buy guns on the black market. The police also found guns, ammunition, and several knives in the boys' homes.

Byrd's mom, Carrie Tuller, said that her son is just a little boy and did not think that it was really serious, according to a New York Post report.

Marceno noted that the teen suspects were well-known to the sheriff's office after multiple calls for disturbances at their homes.

Byrd and Pruett were detained on Thursday for a mental health evaluation and were taken into custody.

They are both facing a conspiracy to commit a mass shooting charge.

Columbine Massacre in 1999

The Columbine High School mass shooting on April 20, 1999 happened when two teens went on a shooting spree, which had killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 others before committing suicide.

The Columbine shooting was the worst high school shooting at the time in the history of the United States, according to a History report.

A major investigation was also urged to determine the motive of the gunmen identified as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who were 18 and 17 respectively. It was speculated that Harris and Klebold deliberately chose athletes, minorities, and Christians as their victims.

One of the victims, Cassie Bernall, was reportedly asked by one of the suspects if she believed in God. Bernall had allegedly said "yes" and was then shot to death. Her parents then wrote a book entitled "She Said Yes" to honor their daughter.

However, it was later known that it was not Bernall who was asked that question. It was another student who had already been wounded by a gunshot.

The said victim said "yes" and the shooter walked away.

It was then later determined that Harris and Klebold chose their victims randomly. They also initially planned to bomb their school.

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Written by Mary Webber

WATCH: Parkland parent responds to the arrest of two students for planning a school shooting - from FOX 4 Now