Who are Logan Pringle and Preston Hinebaugh? Pennsylvania teens planned school attack
CAMBRIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Two teens have been arrested and accused of being in the “planning stage” of an attacking a Pennsylvania school. One of the teens, who had been banished from the school, had earlier threatened to “shoot and kill the school”. Logan Jack Pringle, 17, and Preston Robert Hinebaugh, 16, are now facing charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. Hinebaugh has also been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal trespass and possession of a firearm by a minor.
The Cambria County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to The Daily Beast that Pringle and Hinebaugh will be tried as adults. A criminal complaint filed by Assistant Chief John Blake of the Upper Yoder Township Police Department says that Pringle entered Westmont Hilltop High School through a locked front door shortly before 10:30 am on December 7. He is not allowed to enter the campus since 2018, following some incidents including one in which he threatened to “get a Glock and shoot up the school” following his expulsion that February. “I just have to figure out how to get into the school,” Pringle told at least eight classmates, the complaint states.
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Hinebaugh recently let Pringle into the school last and the duo “walked the halls examining cameras and other features of the building." Pringle later left the building through an unlocked exit in the school gym.
The mother of another student of the school said her daughter called her to say that Pringle was back in school but “assumed he had been re-admitted to the school district.” The parent immediately emailed the school principal, who assured actions will be taken. School officials have contacted the police.
The school had previously checked the search history of a “school-owned, school-issued device” that Pringle had used “on the school’s wi-fi". They found “numerous searches involving guns, specifically an AR-15 forum". Nearly all of Pringle's Instagram posts are related to firearms.
The complaint states that Pringle has a history of “threats and dangerous actions relative to Westmont Hilltop High School," adding that he “lit a match and threw it on the carpeting of the school." Pringle was also “found to be in possession of fireworks inside the school building."
“Imitation weapons have been found in Logan Pringle’s possession by school staff,” the complaint states. “Logan Pringle made a note stating ‘I Hate This School’ with a picture of a knife. Logan Pringle made a checklist for his ‘Rebellion’ including weapons and diagrams of the school with one stairwell/hallway labeled ‘Ideal Location.’”
On the other hand, police seized multiple weapons at Hinebaugh's house which “his parents were unaware of", including four untraceable AR-15-style rifles and a pump-action shotgun. Pringle and Hinebaugh were arrested last week. While Hinebaugh’s bail was set at $400,000, Pringle is being held on $250,000 bail.
Hinebaugh’s attorney, Matthew R. Zatko, said, “My client denies all of the allegations and looks forward to defending himself and clearing his name.” Pringle does not have an attorney yet. A source close to Pringle's family claimed that he has been suffering from mental illness and insisted that “the system has already failed him more than once.”
“If he had gotten the proper treatment, we wouldn't be in this situation today,” the person said. “It’s sad because the proper help was not there.” “I know [the police] posted his Instagram,” they said. “He loves guns, he can take a gun apart in two seconds and put it back together… but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna go out and shoot up a school.”
Pringle is not “perfectly innocent, but he needs mental help,” the source continued, adding that Pringle “should have been put in a mental institution back when all of that started.” Instead, he was placed in a group home, where he was “beat up and battered, and it’s just very sad.” “Whenever I hear about one of these shootings, the first thing everyone should ask is, ‘What has happened to this child to make them do this?’” the source said.
This incident comes in the aftermath of the Oxford High School shooting, where the suspect, Ethan Crumbley, 15, shot four students dead and injured over seven people. The charges against Crumbley include 4 counts of first-degree murder, 7 counts of assault with intent to murder, 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and 1 count of terrorism causing death.