Boys planned Matrix-inspired massacre

The plot was uncovered as the three New Jersey boys set out on their mission, armed with rifles, handguns, swords and knives.

They stumbled at the first hurdle when an attempt to hijack a motorist failed and he went to the police. "These guys were ready for a war," said the motorist.

They were captured wearing trench-coats like their hero in the Matrix sci-fi films.

The three, aged 18, 15 and 14, had been planning to carry out "multiple homicides" since early this year, said Christopher Ferrari, the New Jersey police chief. They "had planned on not being taken alive" by police, he added.

"We could have had a disaster here in Oaklyn," said Vincent Sarubbi, the county prosecutor.

He told the Philadelphia Inquirer: "They were going to execute three individuals and continue until they ran out of ammunition, with killings throughout town."

The plot evoked memories of the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, in Colorado, in which two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide.

The New Jersey trio were planning to kill randomly in the streets of Oaklyn, which has inhabitants. Mr Ferrari said the three were about to start the killings on Saturday. He added that each boy was armed with a high-powered rifle or shotgun, and that they had handguns with more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition.

The weapons recovered also included swords and knives. "It was sort of a Columbine-type thing, except they were going to be more mobile," the police chief said.

Matthew Lovett, 18, was among those arrested. The younger two were not named.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the three called themselves "warriors of freedom", according to teenagers who knew them. One of them was known for drawing violent cartoons in class and felt bullied by students.

Lovett imagined an almost supernatural aura around himself, sometimes referring to himself as the "Mystic", the "One" or "Neo", friends said. The One and Neo are names for Keanu Reeves’ character in the Matrix films.

"They kind of had that Matrix thing going on," said Anthony Tesman, 16, of Oaklyn, of the suspects. "They would wear black glasses and slick their hair back."

Police investigating the Columbine massacre also found references to Reeves’ character in the science fiction film.

Mr Ferrari said three of the targets were fellow students at the elementary-middle school and that the rest of the victims were to be chosen at random. He said the three "indicated they had previous problems with students at Oaklyn Public School, and potential targets were students there".

He added: "These individuals were planning on killing as many people as possible in a short time and creating widespread hysteria."

All three were charged with attempted murder, attempted car-jacking and weapons offences. Lovett, who is accused of pointing a gun at the officer who arrested him, was also charged with aggravated assault.

Mr Sarubbi said the weapons seized belonged to Lovett’s father and were legal.

Mathew Rich, who reported the car-jacking attempt, said he was leaving for work when he saw three boys dressed in trench-coats standing in front of a school. One crossed the road in front of him and then opened his coat to reveal a handgun, before signalling for his friends. Mr Rich said he drove around them and then notified the police.

When he returned to the area after driving to the police station, he saw the weapons being confiscated.

The Matrix films were linked with a killing earlier this year. Josh Cooke, 19, who lived in Oakton, Virginia, kept a Matrix poster on his wall and had a trench-coat like the one worn by Reeves in the film.

The teenager bought a 12-gauge shotgun, similar to one used by Neo in the Matrix films, and gunned down his mother and father in the basement of his home in February. He then called the police to report the killings.

Cooke’s lawyer said his client believed he was living inside the Matrix, the computer-generated virtual world of the Matrix and Matrix Reloaded films.