An attack is foiled against Landstown High School

Two things happened this week to avert tragedy in Virginia Beach. A friend of a teenager told authorities about a plan to bomb Landstown High School, and law enforcement officers acted quickly to find the bombs and make an arrest.

The alleged plot by a 17-year-old Landstown senior was discovered just two weeks before the 10th anniversary of the horrendous mass killings at Columbine High School in Colorado.

The teen has shown a "fascination" with that attack on students April 20, 1999, Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant said. Two years ago, around the anniversary, the boy was convicted of possessing a hoax explosive device and served three months on supervised probation, Bryant said.

Given the timing, the discovery of a plan to bomb a Virginia Beach school is scary enough. Every year, or so it seems, we hear of troubled students, some of whom have been bullied, who want revenge and plan it to coincide with the Columbine anniversary.

It's tempting to dismiss such plans as fantasies of teenagers with wild imaginations, too many resentments and too much time on their hands.

But in this case, the 17-year-old, Bryant said, had a juvenile record, a history of emotional and mental health issues and ammunition. Investigators searching his house Monday found 28 pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails and materials to make other bombs.

He's been charged with 10 counts of making an explosive device and one count of making an explosive device for use in a terrorist act.

A terrorist act.

Virginia Tech knows too well what that looks like. Thirty-two headstones mark the victims of the terrorist act there two years ago by Seung-Hui Cho. The terrorist act by two teens in Colorado's Columbine killed a dozen students and a teacher. Dozens more have died in the past decade in assaults on schools in Kentucky, Arkansas, Minnesota, Montreal, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Russia, Germany.

So Bryant labeled the Landstown plan for what it was: a terrorist act.

School officials have recommended expelling the teen; Bryant said others may be charged as well. The teen is being held in the Virginia Beach Juvenile Detention Center without bond, scheduled for trial April 28 in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations court.

What should give everyone comfort is that a student who heard about the plot took it seriously and told someone who could stop it. No bombs or weapons were found on school property; no one was hurt.

What should give all of us pause is the sad reality recognized by a Landstown parent on Tuesday. What happened, she said, is "part of what our society has become."

The only way to combat it is to build a community where people know each other and watch out for each other. Where they watch their children and their children's friends. Where they recognize when something's wrong. And then tell someone who can do something about it.