An offhand remark by a Greece Odyssey Academy student during lunchtime on Friday sparked a police investigation that led to the arrest of four people in connection with an alleged plot to attack a Muslim community in New York.

Greece Police Chief Patrick Phelan said the probe kicked off after a 16-year-old student showed a picture of another person on his phone to friends in the cafeteria and "made a comment to the effect 'he looks like the next school shooter, doesn't he?'"

Other students alarmed by that student's remarks reported them to school officials.

Through a series of subsequent interviews, police were eventually led to what Phelan said was a "serious plot" to attack the community of Islamberg in Delaware County, near the Catskills.

During the investigation, police recovered 23 firearms and three homemade bombs, Phelan said.

"If they had carried out this plot, and we have every indication that was what they were going to do, people would have died," said Phelan. "The kid who said something saved people's lives. Everything worked and as a result, nobody's dead and that's a good story."

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Brian F. Colaneri, 20, of Gates; Vincent R. Vetromile, 19, of Greece; and Andrew C. Crysel, 18, of East Rochester, were arrested on Saturday. All three have been charged with three counts of first-degree criminal possession of a dangerous weapon and one count of fourth-degree conspiracy. All are felonies.

A 16-year-old suspect – the same Greece Odyssey student who showed off the picture that initiated the investigation – was also arrested and faces the same charges as the men. Due to the state's new Raise the Age legislation, the 16-year-old is being prosecuted as an adolescent offender.

The person depicted in the photograph the 16-year-old showed off in the cafeteria on Friday was interviewed by police and assisted in their investigation, but was not arrested, said Phelan.

What connected the four conspirators together was not entirely clear, but three of the suspects were in Boy Scouts together, and two of them were Eagle Scouts.

The three men are being held in the Monroe County Jail on $50,000 bail or $100,000 bond. The 16-year-old has been arraigned and is being held on $1 million bail.

Court documents describe the homemade bombs as a large-sized cylinder wrapped in duct tape, one medium-sized cylinder wrapped in duct tape and one mason jar wrapped in duct tape. Phelan said all three were recovered from the Milford Street home of the 16-year-old suspect.

Phelan said the firearms — shotguns and rifles — were recovered from multiple sites, and that some were owned by the plotters, others by their relatives of the men. He said the weapons appeared to have all been legally obtained.

Phelan also said numerous electronic devices were seized from all four of the suspects. Those devices will be subject to forensic examination in coming days. The homemade explosives will be examined by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Without providing specifics, Phelan said police found some material on the devices that was "disturbing and suspicious."

Phelan said the devices appeared to be filled with black powder and nails.

He also said it's possible additional charges could be filed against the plotters, and that there could be additional arrests forthcoming as the investigation continues.

Weeks of planning

The attack on Islamberg was planned over the course of about a month, Phelan said. He said police were not able to determine if the suspects had a particular date in mind for their strike.

Greece Central School District Superintendent Kathleen Graupman said she was grateful that Odyssey students brought their concerns to police.

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"They trusted their instincts and used what they learned in school," she said. "By coming forward with their information, their actions changed the narrative."

She said this incident underscores the importance of reporting anything that seems suspicious.

"The outcome of this investigation proves that our system works," she said. "I want to emphasize that our schools are safe because of the actions of many."

Still upset by reports on Friday that there had been a threat to Greece Odyssey Academy, some parents on Tuesday were concerned about sending their children to schools or were critical that the district and police had been tight-lipped.

District stayed quiet to assist investigation

Graupman said the district did not release any additional information out of concern for the integrity of the police investigation.

Phelan said there was never any actual threat to Greece students, and that releasing details about the bombing plot prior to Tuesday press conference could have jeopardized leads.

"The difficult thing about investigations is that a lot of times they have to be done in secret or the investigation will fail," he said.

Phelan said police do not yet know what may have motivated Crysel, Vetromile, Colaneri and the 16-year-old to hatch their plot against Islamberg.

What is Islamberg, New York?

Islamberg is a Muslim enclave in Delaware County, near the Catskill Mountains, that is operated by The Muslims of America, according to a 2017 Associated Press story.

A June 2015 story by Reuters said the community follows the teachings of Pakistani Sufi cleric Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, who during the 1980s urged his mostly African-American acolytes to leave metropolitan areas and establish rural communities centered on religious life.

The number of residents living there isn’t certain. The AP said the community had several hundred residents. A July 2015 CBS News report said it was home to about two dozen Muslim families, who are mostly second- and third-generation Americans from other cities.

The AP said residents work locally as contractors, paralegals, welders, doctors, engineers and plumbers. Many live in manufactured homes on more than 60 acres of property owned by the group. Children are home-schooled, but some play organized sports with other area children.

Previous attack foiled

A Tennessee man, Robert Doggart, was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison in 2017 for recruiting 10 men to plan an attack on the same community.

Doggart had conversations with a confidential police informant in March 2015, saying "Those guys (have) to be killed," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Contributing: Anthony Borrelli, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

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Follow Georgie Silvarole and Meaghan M. McDermott on Twitter: @gsilvarole and @meagmc