Tampa school plot foiled
Jared Cano (R) is led out of the courtroom after appearing before judge Tracy Sheehan in the Hillsborough County, Florida Courthouse Annex August 17, 2011. Florida police on Wednesday said they had uncovered a plot by the 17-year-old Cano to attack and cause mass casualties at his former school, Freedom High School, in Orlando after arresting him and discovering bomb-making material at his home. Reuters/Cherie Diez-St. Peters

Tampa police said they have thwarted the plan of a 17-year-old boy who intended to set off several explosives and kill about 30 students at his former high school.

Jared Cano was expelled from the Florida school more than a year ago for an off-campus incident. It is alleged that Cano planned to set off many homemade pipe bombs on the first day of school next week. Two assistant principals were also targets, authorities have told the media.

"We were probably able to thwart a potentially catastrophic event the likes of which the city of Tampa has not seen and hopefully never will," local Police Chief Jane Castor told reporters.

Police received a tip and searched Cano's home on Tuesday. They found a detailed minute-by-minute "manifesto" of the plot to include layout drawings of where Cano would plant the bombs.

"His intent was to place these devices throughout the school, where they would do the most harm," Castor told CNN.

Cano has been charged with possessing bomb-making materials and threatening to throw, project, place or discharge a destructive device. He is also facing drug charges, CNN reported.

Castor said Cano hasn't spoken to investigators since Tuesday's arrest. He will be represented by a public defender, Mike Peacock, administrative counsel for the Hillsborough County public defender's office, told CNN.

In April 1999, two students at the Columbine high school in Colorado killed 12 students and a teacher in one the U.S.' deadliest school massacres in history.

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