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OKLAHOMA (WITI) – An Oklahoma father’s response to a student who was planning a mass casualty event is going viral.
Charles Martin’s son, Michael, is a freshman at Edmond North High School in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Martin's reaction to the news of the mass casualty plot uncovered at his son’s school was a little out of the box, and it's going viral.
“The first thought just goes back to what it’s like being a teenager. It’s a brutal, brutal time,” said Martin.
On Friday, March 13th, Edmond police said they had uncovered a plan regarding a potential mass killing at the high school.
Several students had come forward with text messages from the suspect which led authorities to search the teen’s home where they found evidence of explosives and blueprints to possibly carry out an attack.
Martin is a writer and when he heard about what happened, he started writing.
“Even if what he was going to do was monstrous, he is a human being,” said Martin.
In the letter, Martin extends grace to this 16-year-old boy and thanks him for sending the texts to his friends that ultimately led to authorities finding out about his plan.
“I hope he can find his way back to something even close to normal, that he can just survive this hole that he’s in and find something better on the other side,” said Martin.
Martin posted to the letter to his small publishing company website, Literati Press.
It spread like wildfire.
“It did what viral does. It just spread,” said Martin.
Twenty-thousand hits in 12 hours caused the site to crash. Then, a hacker hit and effectively shut down the website.
“At the rate it was going, we would’ve passed 100,000 hits before too long,” said Martin.
Martin says the response to his letter has been overwhelmingly positive. He says the fact that nothing did happen allowed him to be more kind in his reaction to this obviously troubled teen.
Edmond police said the teen suspect was being treated in patient at a mental health facility. They say charges could be filed against him sometime this week.
You can read Martin’s letter below: