A birthday sleepover has turned into America’s latest jihadist terror attack, according to Jupiter, Florida police. The Palm Beach Post reports that 17-year-old Corey Johnson has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder after admitting that he killed a 13-year-old boy and injured two others by stabbing them during a sleepover celebrating the deceased child’s birthday.
Johnson, who is Muslim, watched jihadi propaganda videos and read Islam’s holy book before he plotted to kill his friends on Monday, police stated.
The sleepover was held at the home of Johnson’s friend Kyle Bancroft in the gated community of BallenIsles Country Club.
According to police, Johnson, who withdrew from William T. Dwyer High School, planned to kill Kyle’s mother, Elaine Simon; Kyle’s 13-year-old brother, Dane; and Dane’s friend, Jovanni Sierra, while they were sleeping.
Johnson reportedly took offense to Sierra idolizing famous people and referring them as gods and had been teased about his faith.
According to a police affidavit filed by officer Jennifer Brashear, Johnson had read the Quran before going to the Bancroft home “to give him courage to carry out his intentions.”
Additionally, Johnson and Kyle Bancroft also reportedly watched violent jihadi videos on Sunday night.
Johnson woke up Monday morning at 4 a.m. and planned to carry out the heinous act.
Police report that Johnson first slit Sierra’s throat with a knife he brought with him to the home. Right before 6 a.m., Simon heard Sierra moaning in agony and she went upstairs to investigate.
As she got to the top of the steps, Johnson came at Simon at least a dozen times.
When the 13-year-old Dane Bancroft ran to push Johnson off his mother, he was stabbed a total of 32 times, according to The Palm Beach Post.
“In his statement, Johnson advised he stabbed the victims because of his Muslim faith,” the officer wrote in the affidavit.
After police were called from a neighbor’s home, Johnson barricaded himself in a room inside the home until a SWAT team took him into custody around 8 a.m.
While Sierra died from the throat slitting, Simon and her son were both rushed to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach and are both expected to recover.
The attack is seen by some as another example of the problems within the FBI. The agency has been seen as moving too slowly in stopping violent acts by persons on their watch list. President Trump has said that the FBI needs to re-examine their watch-list policies and move more quickly before more Americans die in similar attacks. CNN reports that Johnson had already been on the FBI’s radar before the attack.
An FBI agent told Jupiter investigators on March 5 that a federal affidavit regarding Johnson would come “in the next several weeks.”
The FBI had previously met with Johnson last year and had been monitoring his social media accounts for over a year because of terror-related activity.
According to police reports, the FBI investigation showed that Johnson had interest in the Islamic State and watched various beheading videos online.
Kyle Bancroft, Johnson’s 15-year-old friend who was not hurt in the attack, told police that even though he is not a Muslim, he would regularly watch online videos about jihad with Johnson.
“The videos are extreme and encourage death to non-believers,” the affidavit explained.
Johnson is being held in juvenile detention while a grand jury can decide whether he should be tried as an adult.
Lucas Bancroft, Dane and Kyle’s father, told the Palm Beach Post that his younger son is a hero for saving his mother.
According to Lucas, his son had to have a kidney removed and sustained liver damage. As a result of the injuries, the child has undergone two surgeries but is expected to recover.
“Dane, and his brother Kyle, are tough-minded kids, the kind of kids you would want in a trench with you,” Bancroft said of his sons. “Without [Dane], this would be a whole lot different.”
The family has set up a Facebook fundraising page to help pay for Dane Bancroft’s medical expenses. As of Thursday afternoon, just over $1,000 has been raised.
