Self-described ‘incel’ pleads guilty in Ohio mass shooting case  

A self-described “incel” pleaded guilty in Ohio on Tuesday to plotting and attempting a mass shooting of women at a university in the state.

Identifying as an “involuntary celibate,” 22-year-old Tres Genco was part of the predominantly male online community centered on anger toward women, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

He was found by local sheriff’s deputies in 2020 with a firearm, loaded magazines, boxes of ammunition and body armor in the trunk of his vehicle, according to the Justice Department release, and as part of a plea admitted before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio that he had the weapons in his possession in order to commit a hate crime and shoot women.  

The Hillsboro, Ohio, man maintained profiles and posted hundreds of times on a popular website for the incel movement and appeared to idolize known incel Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and injured 14 others in a 2014 shooting outside a California sorority house, according to the Justice Department. 

The agency’s investigation revealed that Genco had penned a manifesto asserting his plans to “slaughter” women “out of hatred, jealousy and revenge” and that he had searched online for Ohio sororities and universities. 

His search history also included inquiries like “planning a shooting crime” and “when does preparing for a crime become an attempt,” according to the Justice Department.  

“Genco formulated a plot to kill women and intended to carry it out. Our federal and local law enforcement partners stopped that from happening. Hate has no place in our country — including gender-based hate,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. 

Federal agents arrested Genco in July 2021, and he has since been in custody. His guilty plea Tuesday means he may face life in prison.