A 16-year-old white girl was arrested for plotting to kill parishioners in a predominantly black church in Georgia Tuesday.

The juvenile was charged with criminal attempt to commit murder after students told school counselors of Gainesville High School about her plan to attack the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Resource officers of the Gainesville Police Department said that the “detailed plot to commit murder” was discovered in the girl's notebook. Police report also pointed to the fact that she had been planning to attack the church for the past couple of weeks and believed that she was “acting alone.”

Authorities were notified after school administrators verified the threat after conducting a preliminary investigation, according to ABC News.

The teenager's notebook contained a “manifesto-type” language and detailed on how she wanted to attack the congregation with knives, said Sergeant Kevin Holbrook.

He firmly believed that her untoward actions to people of color are “racially motivated.”

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“She had written down how she wanted to do it, the best way to do it. She had procured some butcher knives, kitchen knives, to do the attack with and had actually scouted out the location,” said Police Chief Jay Parrish in a press conference on November 19.

The police chief also expressed the girl's intent to assault a small group during worship hour and had brought her knives with her when she first visited the church.

But by “divine intervention,” nobody was in the church when the girl decided to initiate her plans.

“I have no doubt that we thwarted an attack that would have been ugly,” he said.

Holbrook likewise echoed Parrish's relief.

“By pure grace, the church did not have service that evening. We were very fortunate here.”

Gainesville City School System superintendent Dr. Jeremy Williams said that the girl's action does not represent the views and beliefs of the school, but they were stunned at the discovery.

He then lauded the quick action of the students in notifying the school administration about the racial threat.

The girl, whose name was not released by the police, was transported to the Regional Youth Detention Center.

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