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Teen Islam convert, an ISIS backer, carried out deadly stabbing after kid mocked his faith: police
Florida teen Corey Johnson — an Islam convert and ISIS supporter — carried out a deadly stabbing early Monday morning after a kid had made fun of his faith, police said. (Image source: WPEC-TV video screenshot)

Teen Islam convert, an ISIS backer, carried out deadly stabbing after kid mocked his faith: police

A Florida teen who's an Islam convert carried out a deadly stabbing after a kid had made fun of his faith, police told WPEC-TV.

Police said 17-year-old Corey Johnson of Jupiter admitted to the stabbings, which took place in a Palm Beach Gardens home early Monday morning and resulted in the death of a boy four years younger, the station said.

Arriving officers found Eileen Simon and two 13-year-old boys — Jovanni Alexander Sierra and Dane Lucas Bancroft — with stab wounds just before 6 a.m., WPEC reported, adding that Jovanni died from a cut throat and multiple stab wounds. It was his birthday, the station said.

Johnson barricaded himself inside the home before surrendering to SWAT, authorities told WPEC.

How did it start?

At 4 a.m. Johnson planned to kill Simon, Dane and Jovanni in their sleep, the station said, citing a police report. Johnson said he believed Dane made fun of his Muslim faith and practices, and that Jovanni had referred to famous people as gods, which is contrary to the suspect's beliefs, WPEC reported.

Investigators said Johnson admitted to reading the Quran on his phone just before the stabbing attack to give him courage to "carry out his intentions," the station said, adding he purchased the knife used in the attack on Sunday.

Simon woke up to a commotion around 5:45 a.m. and went upstairs when Johnson confronted her at the top of the stairs, stabbing her about 12 times, police told WPEC.

Dane ran to protect his mom when Johnson stabbed him over 30 times, police told the station, adding that Dane and his mother ran to a neighbor's house where they called 911. Dane and Simon remain hospitalized, WPEC said.

A third juvenile, Kyle Bancroft — who was found unharmed in the home — told investigators he and Johnson often watched videos about Muslim jihadis on the internet, most recently the Sunday before the attack, the station reported.

The FBI and police had been investigating him for over a year

Turns out the FBI and police have been investigating Johnson for over a year, WPEC said in a separate story.

Among the terrorist clips Johnson watched were beheading videos, the station said, citing a newly released report from Jupiter police. The suspect also wanted to join the Islamic State and reached out to the terrorist group on the internet, WPEC said, citing the report.

Johnson, as early as December 2016, possessed "terrorist ideologies and is a supporter of the terrorist organization ISIS," the station said, citing the report.

“We understand that he has been watching violent videos which may have some link to ISIS,” Palm Beach Gardens interim Police Chief Clint Shannon told WPEC.

More from the station:

Family members told police Johnson idolizes extremists, Fascists, Hitler and is a white supremacist. Police say his profile picture on Facebook was once a Nazi swastika.

Authorities say he has a history dating back to the 7th and 8th grades of making anti-Semitic and anti-homosexual remarks.

In addition, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has been monitoring Johnson since at least January 2017, WPEC reported.

Johnson made Instagram threats to McAuley Catholic High School in England deemed “so severe in nature that up to 100 students were removed from the school fearing some kind of attack," the station said, citing a police report.

More from WPEC:

The threats were tracked to his home on a quiet, residential street in Jupiter and in March 2017 FBI agents advised him to cease all social media activities related to ISIS and to have no further contact with the school in England or its students.

But during the summer of 2017, police say Johnson was making more online posts and the FBI was working to bring official charges against him.

According to the report from Jupiter Police, there’s still an active case against Johnson, and federal charges are anticipated in a few weeks for the social media threats to the school in England.

What happened to the suspect?

Johnson appeared in juvenile court Tuesday afternoon where a judge ordered him to be held on one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, WPEC reported.

(H/T: BizPac Review)

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