LISBON (Reuters) – Portuguese criminal investigation agency (PJ) said on Thursday it arrested an 18-year-old male who had allegedly put together a detailed, written plan to stage a violent attack against students at a Lisbon university campus.
PJ did not identify the suspect, who according to local media is Portuguese. In a statement, the agency said he had multiple illegal weapons in his possession, as well as other objects that could have been used to carry out the attack.
“The suspect, who was arrested in ‘flagrante delicto’ for the possession of the weapons, was also charged with the crime of terrorism,” it said.
The police said the suspect’s target were students of the faculty of sciences of Universidade de Lisboa, the largest university in the country.
The suspect hoped to conduct the attack on Friday but PJ said it managed to stop him before he moved forward with the plan.
“Given the seriousness of the suspicions, the highest priority was given to the investigation, which allowed (PJ) to stop the criminal activity in the early hours of today,” it said, adding he would appear before a judge on Friday.
Portugal is ranked the fourth most peaceful country in the world by the Global Peace Index, and attacks of this kind are extremely rare.
Publico newspaper, citing a PJ source, said the suspect was an avid consumer of information about school shootings that often take place in the United States.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by David Gregorio)
