Spain: man plotted 'Columbine-style massacre' - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Spain: man plotted 'Columbine-style massacre'

Spanish police said Thursday they have arrested a man on suspicion that he planned to imitate the 1999 Columbine school killings by planting bombs around a university campus.

Identified only by the initials J.M.M.S., he was arrested after he received more than 140 kilograms (308 pounds) of explosives that he had bought online, police said in a statement.

"In his personal diary and other documents seized at his home, the detainee showed his hatred of society, epecially university students, and his decision to strategically place shrapnel-filled pipe bombs in the university grounds, admitting to a possible suicide in the carrying out of the massacre," the statement said.

Police said they arrested the 21-year-old in the Balearic island city of Palma de Mallorca on Wednesday.

Police said that in his personal diary and Internet blog, the man  talked of his admiration for the perpetrators of the Columbine attacks and how he planned to place several bombs around a campus in Palma.

A police spokesman said there was nothing to indicate that the man had planned to carry out the attack for any set ideological reasons.

Twelve students and one teacher were killed in the Columbine attack in Colorado. The two perpetrators then killed themselves.

Spanish police said the arrested man had tried several times to purchase guns for the university attack, but finding this impossible then opted to use bombs by buying explosive-making material on the Internet.

Police said they had been watching the man for the past five months after messages referring to Columbine began appearing on Internet pages in Spain.

A police spokesman said the suspect had previously studied electronics at a technical training school and had recently begun a course in business administration. He said he earned money by playing poker on the Internet and had recently moved out of his family house and into an apartment.

The officer spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with police regulations.

Copyright 2012 MYFOXNY.COM/The Associated Press.