Man says he planned mass shooting hoping to ‘slaughter’ women at Ohio college, feds say

After a misogynistic extremist killed six people during a 2014 stabbing and shooting spree, Tres Genco wanted to create even more devastation.

Genco, 22, indicated plans to “aim big,” writing in a manifesto he hoped for a kill count of 3,000 people in his mass shooting plot against college women, according to a Department of Justice news release.

On Tuesday, Oct. 11, Genco pleaded guilty to that mass shooting attempt, now facing up to life in prison. He was originally charged in July 2021 with an attempted hate crime and illegal possession of a machine gun, McClatchy News reported.

“Genco formulated a plot to kill women and intended to carry it out. Our federal and local law enforcement partners stopped that from happening,” U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio said in a statement. “Hate has no place in our country – including gender-based hate – and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously prosecute any such conduct.”

An attorney for Genco could not be immediately reached by McClatchy News.

Genco’s plot revealed in online posts, manifesto

Identifying as an “incel” — short for “involuntary celibate” — Genco was a member of online group of men who display anger toward women, federal officials said.

Incels, the Southern District of Ohio said in its 2021 indictment of Gence, “advocate violence in support of their belief that women unjustly deny them sexual or romantic attention to which they believe they are entitled.”

Genco had multiple profiles on a popular incel website and posted hundreds of times from July 2019 to March 2020, according to the news release.

In his manifesto, Genco wrote that he would “slaughter” women out of “hatred, jealously and revenge,” the Department of Justice said.

“I will take away the power of life that they withhold from me, by showing there is more than just happiness and fulfillment, there is all encompassing death, the great equalizer that will bear all of us into its seductively calm velvet of silence and serenity,” Genco wrote in the manifesto, according to the indictment.

His plan took him to a university in Ohio, where he allegedly conducted surveillance, the indictment states. Court documents show he also conducted research of police scanner codes in Columbus, where Ohio State University is located.

Genco is also accused of searching online for “planning a shooting crime” and searching for sororities at the university, according to the news release.

Genco’s array of weapons

From January to May 2019, Genco purchased various weapons and tactical gear. They include a bullet proof vest and tactical gloves, as well as a hoodie bearing the wood “Revenge,” court documents show.

He also purchased a rifle and magazines and a clip for a 9mm gun, officials said in the indictment.

When police officers went to his Highland County home in March 2020, they recovered a 9mm semiautomatic pistol without manufacturer’s marks or a serial number, according to the indictment.

As part of his plea deal, Genco admitted he planned to use the guns in his mass shooting plot, according to the Department of Justice.

References to Elliot Rodger

On the incel website, Genco compared his conduct to that of Elliot Rodger, officials said.

Rodger, who also identified as an incel, killed himself after killing six people and wounding 14 in a stabbing and shooting spree in California in 2014.

“He posted YouTube videos and an online manifesto to express his anger towards women, whom he blamed for his own sexual rejection and misogyny,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. “Rodger’s attack and incel status made him an idol in incel spaces; other violent incels and attempted attackers have posted that they will ‘go ER,’ a reference to Rodger’s misogynistic rage-fueled attack.”

Before Rodger’s attacks, he “shot a group of college students with orange juice from a gun,” the indictment states.

Genco said on the incel website that he did the same, adding that he felt “spiritually connect to the saint,” referring to Rodger, according to the indictment.

And as Genco developed his plot at the Ohio university, he left a note that referenced the same day as Rodger’s attack, according to the news release.

A sentencing date for Genco has not been set. The hate crime charge he pleaded guilty to is punishable by up to life in prison.

This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Man says he planned mass shooting hoping to ‘slaughter’ women at Ohio college, feds say."