Pictured: Transgender pro-Nazi who planned school shooting

Telegraph

3 days ago

A transgender teenager with pro-Nazi views who wanted to carry out a mass shooting at school has been pictured for the first time.
Felix Winter, 18, 'idolised' the killers behind the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in the United States in 1999, which saw 12 students and a teacher gunned down.
A court heard Winter, a biological female who identifies as male, repeatedly spoke about doing the same at an Edinburgh secondary school, describing the 'Doomsday' when they would 'clear it out'.
But a large police investigation was launched in summer 2023 after a social media photo of Winter at school in full combat gear and carrying an imitation gun caused panic among pupils and parents.
The teenager also held racist and pro-Nazi views and had previously been referred to a UK-wide programme designed to stop people becoming terrorists.
It emerged Winter had been 'radicalised', having spent more than 1,000 hours in online contact with an extremist pro-Nazi online Discord group.
Winter pleaded guilty in February to a breach of the peace and a charge under the Terrorism Act.
The teenager was back in the dock of the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday and was sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
'Vulnerable young person'
Shelagh McCall KC, defending, called for a strict alternative to custody as her client was a 'vulnerable young person' with mental health issues.
But judge Lord Arthurson ruled that out and told Winter the teenager appeared to be 'progressing to the brink of a mass school shooting'.
The judge said Winter 'increasingly saw yourself as a warrior', and had created 'visceral and graphic plans selecting which pupils and teachers you would kill and spare'.
The court heard the teenager wrote 'the school is a virus on the earth and everyone should be looking at me as a god', and kept a journal about shooting people.
Lord Arthurson said Winter was a 'vulnerable young person', and added: 'It is at least arguable you were progressing towards the brink of committing a mass school shooting and becoming radicalised. The statement of intent could not have been clearer.
'Your ideation grew in intensity; you took steps to obtain information likely to be of use to committing an act of terrorism.
'Your plans had become a degree more operationalised; you asked a witness to retain a journal and said you lied to police. In February, you expressed annoyance you had been caught.'
He said only a 'substantial' custodial sentence was appropriate for the crimes, which spanned between June 2022 and July 2023.
Fear and alarm among pupils
Greg Farrell, prosecuting, had previously told the court how, on June 20 2023, Winter had turned up at school wearing boots as well as cargo trousers and had brought a military tactical vest and helmet.
A photo was circulated on social media of Winter at school carrying an imitation firearm while wearing the vest and helmet. This caused 'a considerable degree of fear and alarm among pupils and parents.'
Police were alerted and discovered Winter had a TikTok account with footage of the teenager in black combat clothes and a skeleton mask.
Classmates recalled how Winter 'spoke excitedly and with considerable enthusiasm' when he talked about Columbine and other school shootings.
The teenager 'sympathised' with the pair behind it – Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris – and would copy how they had dressed.
In November 2022, Winter told a girl their plan for a school attack, which would start with clearing out the second floor using guns.
Winter then planned to move downstairs, continuing to shoot until police arrived, at which point the teen 'would turn the gun on himself.'
Mr Farrell said: 'He spoke about setting up trip wires at fire exits and of placing 'pipe bombs' at the school.'
Winter told another classmate of a plan to 'place a bomb in every second classroom' then shoot people as they fled the building.
Winter also told a girl online that they wanted to carry out a shooting as they were being bullied and 'fed up' with being there.
Mass killings 'glamourised'
The teenager's phone was described as being 'full' of photos and videos of shootings, as well as others of Hitler and Nazi Germany.
The court heard Winter had 65 videos of Columbine and had added music which appeared to 'glamourise' the mass killing.
The teenager had recorded another clip at school that seemed to 'mimic the actions' of the American shooters.
Winter was stopped by police under the Terrorism Act as the teen returned from a family holiday on July 9, 2023.
But Ms McCall said: 'I say that his actions fall outside the definition of terrorism. There is no evidence that the actions were for advancing such a case. The cause, in so far as there was one, was revenge for bullying.'
She said Winter 'did not understand the illegality or appreciate the fear and alarm that he was likely to cause with his behaviour' and had since 'significantly changed'.
Asst Chief Constable Stuart Houston said: 'This was an extremely complex and fast-moving investigation, and I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the diligence and hard work of the officers who worked tirelessly to gather the evidence and bring the perpetrator to justice.'