Bartow Police Chief Joe Hall: “This is horrific, and if I had children in school I'd be scared to death. They wanted to kill at least 15 people … I believe both of these girls went into the bathroom to carry out their plan.”

BARTOW — Two girls at Bartow Middle School plotted a failed scheme to attack fellow students with knives in a campus restroom Tuesday, Bartow police officials said.

The plan, deemed credible by investigators who recovered knives in the girls’ possession, included drinking victims’ blood, dismembering the bodies then killing themselves, police Chief Joe Hall said Wednesday morning at his headquarters.

“This is horrific, and if I had children in school I’d be scared to death,” Hall said during the morning news conference. “They wanted to kill at least 15 people … I believe both of these girls went into the bathroom to carry out their plan.”

The Ledger is identifying the suspects because of the serious nature of the charges.

Kaelyn Elizabeth Westergaard, 12, and Katlynn Cathlean Rose Persinger, 11, each face multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and possession of a weapon on school property.

They remain in custody and face expulsion from school.

“Today is sad — we have students who were plotting to kill other students,” said Polk Schools Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd, who joined Hall at the news conference. She declined to address how the girls managed to sneak knives, scissors and other sharp objects onto campus.

The plot unraveled after Bartow Middle staff notified Persinger’s mother that her daughter was absent Tuesday from her second period class, an arrest affidavit said. The child’s mom told school staff that they must be mistaken, setting off a campus search.

Persinger and Westergaard were located in a restroom and brought to the front office. Ordered to empty their pockets, Persinger pulled out a knife and a knife sharpener, the affidavit said, while Westergaard produced three knives and a pizza cutter. They then related their plan to “kill as many students as they could before committing suicide.”

Additional evidence obtained from one girl's cellphone revealed a Snapchat discussion between the two, thanking Satan and saying: “Now death is near,” the affidavit said. A check of the girls’ residences uncovered a drawing outlining the school and hallways and marking the restroom where they planned to carry out their plan, the affidavit said.

Detectives provided the following narrative of the sequence of events spelled out by Persinger and Westergaard under questioning:

Persinger spent the past weekend at Westergaard’s home. They planned their attack while watching scary movies on Sunday, intending to ambush smaller students, stab them and cut their throats.

The pair then searched online for instructions on how to kill someone with a knife. The plan included eating body parts then committing suicide together by stabbing themselves under their arms and puncturing an artery, ensuring they “would go to hell."

Byrd credited staff at Bartow Middle for following correct procedures that led to the discovery of the murder plot. “Everyone on campus, they’re safe today,” she said.

Eric Pera can be reached at eric.pera@theledger.com or 863-802-7528.