Would-Be Indiana School Shooter Locked Up After Being Denied Help

I owe you an apology.

In my previous post, I repeated faulty reporting that Trinity Shockley was transgender. She is not. She testified in court that she posed online as an 18-year-old trans man named Jamie in order to avoid online bullying. Conservative outlets seized on the alias anyway and treated it like a cold, hard fact, because why let accuracy get in the way of outrage clicks?

That’s what I get for lending any credence to Fox News.

Now, back to what actually matters: the crime, the context, and the cascade of failures that led here.

On Feb. 12, 2025, a tip to the Sandy Hook Promise line warned that Shockley was planning a Valentine’s Day shooting at Mooresville High School. Investigators traced the Discord and Snapchat messages, the ones where she talked about “Parkland part two” and called herself Nikolas Cruz’s “number one fan,” directly back to her.

Police found magazines and ammunition in her room, along with photos of mass shooters and notebooks full of disturbing content. One friend told investigators she might have access to an AR-15. Whether that was true is unclear, but if she did have access, I would bet good money it was because her family had one and didn’t exactly keep it secured.

Shockley later insisted the plan was “fantasy,” rage vented online rather than a real intent to kill. Investigators weren’t convinced. Neither was the court.

But there’s a deeper issue here, and it’s one that gets glossed over far too easily.

For years, Shockley tried to get help. School counselors urged it. Shockley asked for it. Anyone paying attention saw the red flags stacking up like cordwood.

And every time, her father blocked her access because he “didn’t believe in mental health.”

This is a teenager who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2022 after being hit by a suspected drunk driver. She received a fractured skull, lingering neurological effects, bullying afterward, and spiraling distress. She knew something was wrong. She asked for treatment. She was denied it at home until she turned 18 and tried to pursue it on her own.

Frankly, as far as I’m concerned, the ‘father’ should be facing criminal charges too. We don’t let parents deny insulin to diabetic kids. We don’t let them deny cancer treatment. But mental health? Apparently that’s optional.

Shockley didn’t fail the system. The system, and her own parent, failed her long before a single Discord message was ever written.

Yesterday, Shockley was sentenced to 20 years in prison with eight suspended along with five years of probation when released.

She apologized in court to classmates, to the community, and even to a specific intended target. She said she is finally getting mental healthcare in jail, finally thinking clearly, and finally surrounded by people who don’t dismiss her as weak for needing help.

Her lawyer argued she lacked the means to carry out the attack. Prosecutors argued her planning was extensive. The judge seemed to split the difference, telling her she could still move forward from this, but that the red flags were undeniable.

And through all this, the FBI did what the current FBI does. They issued a polished statement, patted themselves on the back, and reminded everyone that “when the public speaks up, lives can be saved.”

Great. Wonderful. Gold star.

But here’s the question no one in law enforcement seems interested in answering.

If school shootings are “really a mental health problem,” as the political Right loves to claim, then why does that same political Right, along with Shockley’s own father, fight mental health care at every turn?

You can’t shout “mental health, not guns!” and then block a teenager with a traumatic brain injury from getting therapy.

Shockley recognized she had a problem. She tried to get help. She was barred from receiving it. And only after her arrest, only after everything spiraled past the point of no return, did anyone finally treat her like someone who needed care instead of condemnation.

This case isn’t just about a thwarted attack. It’s about what happens when we treat mental health like a culture war prop until the damage is already done.

(Sources)