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NEW JERSEY (WTXF) - Police say a 21-year-old man was minutes away from carrying out a school shooting in Lexington, Kentucky, when federal agents arrested him. They say if it were not for a mother hundreds of miles away in New Jersey, we might be broadcasting the nation's next mass shooting.
"Nothing to trigger that kind of hate," Koeberle Bull said.
Last week, Bull received an unsolicited message via Facebook from a man named Dylan Jarrell. In part, the hate-filled, racist message said, "I hope your black children get hung for you being so stupid."
"I was angry that someone could even think that way about three beautiful children," Bull said.
Bull, who is widowed with three biracial children, took action that may have saved lives. She says once she found out where the man was from, she called a trooper with the Kentucky State Police.
It only take a few hours to track down the man. A Facebook profile photo captures him holding a rifle. Police say he admitted to sending the racially motivated messages.
Officials also believe Jarrel was planning to carry out an attack on a local school before the FBI made an arrest. Inside his home, police found a gun, 200 rounds of ammo, a Kevlar vest and a detailed plan of attack.
"I can tell you he was caught backing out of this driveway," Kentucky State Police Commissioner Richard Sanders told FOX 29.
On Monday, Jarrell pleaded not guilty to making terroristic threats. Meanwhile, 650 miles away, a New Jersey mother is being hailed as a hero.
"I'm not a guardian angel. I'm not a hero. I'm a mom," she said.
Her 8-year-old son, Isaiah, disagreed.
"I think she's my guardian angel and she's also my hero," he said.