Man Created Plot to Conduct Mass Shooting of Women
Joe Lyons •
March 4, 2024
CINCINNATI – A local, self-identified “Incel” was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 80 months in prison for attempting to conduct a mass shooting of women.
Tres Genco, 24, of Hillsboro, Ohio, admitted he plotted to commit a hate crime, namely, a plan to shoot women at a university in Ohio. He was arrested by federal agents in July 2021 and has remained in custody since.
“Genco intended to carry out a devastating mass murder of innocent women in this state for no other reason than the fact that he hated them. Everybody deserves to live without threats of violence or fearing acts of terror,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Genco’s sentence reflects the need to protect the community from him for a significant period of time. I thank each of our law enforcement partners for working together to keep our community safe.”
“Genco plotted to violently attack women and was motivated by his personal hatred,” stated FBI Cincinnati Acting Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Mimura. “Law enforcement, working together, stopped his deadly attack from happening. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will continue to work closely with our law enforcement and community partners to disrupt threats and prevent violence in our community.”
Genco identified as an Incel or “involuntary celibate.” The Incel movement is a predominantly male online community that harbors anger towards women, fueled by their inability to convince women to engage in sexual activity with them.
According to court documents, Genco maintained profiles on a popular Incel website from at least July 2019 through mid-March 2020 and posted more than 450 times on the site. More than 3,000 items on Genco’s two phones contained the word “Incel.”
In one online post, Genco detailed spraying “some foids [women] and couples” with orange juice in a water gun. Genco compared his “extremely empowering action” to similar conduct by known Incel Elliot Rodger. In May 2014, Rodger killed six people and injured 14 others, including shooting individuals outside a University of California, Santa Barbara sorority house. Prior to his mass attack, Rodger shot a group of college students with orange juice from a water gun. Rodger also emailed a 107,000-word manifesto to multiple media outlets before his mass shooting.
Genco wrote a manifesto, too, stating he would “slaughter” women “out of hatred, jealousy and revenge…” and referring to death as the “great equalizer.” The investigation revealed that the day he wrote his manifesto, Genco searched online for two sororities, including one at The Ohio State University. His Google searches included “sorority osu” and “ohio state university sororities.”
As part of this investigation, law enforcement agents discovered a note of Genco’s that indicated he hoped to “aim big” for a “huge!” kill count of 3,000 people with a reference to the same date as Elliot Rodger’s attack. The note said Genco intended to attend military training.
In 2019, Genco purchased tactical gloves, a bulletproof vest, a hoodie bearing the word “Revenge,” cargo pants, a bowie knife, a skull facemask, two Glock 17 magazines, a 9mm Glock 17 clip, and a holster clip concealed carry for a Glock.
Genco attended Army Basic Training in Georgia from August through December 2019. He was discharged for entry-level performance and conduct.
On Jan. 11, 2020, Genco wrote a note on his phone entitled “isolated” that he described as “the writings of the deluded and homicidal.” Genco signed the document, “Your hopeful friend and murderer.”
On Jan. 15, 2020, the defendant wrote another note on his phone that appears to document surveillance of an unidentified school. He wrote: “10:53 am, fairly busy, Wednesday, Students seem fairly nerdy, some hipster dull kids as well. The track is primarily unused. Ages vary. The average appears to be early 20s. Car quality is generally mid lower tier. Some sort of building behind the college look into it. They have no check of any sort entering the building. I wasn’t questioned at all. Backpacks are very common.”
That same day, Genco searched online for topics including “planning a shooting crime” and “when does preparing for a crime become an attempt?”
On March 11, 2020, Genco screenshotted information on his phone about radio codes for Columbus police and The Ohio State University police. He also accessed the Facebook pages for one of the university’s sororities.
The next day, on March 12, 2020, Highland County sheriff’s deputies responded to Genco’s residence. At the residence, in the trunk of Genco’s vehicle, police officers found, among other things, a firearm with a bump stock attached, several loaded magazines, body armor and boxes of ammunition. Inside the residence, police officers found a modified Glock-style 9mm semiautomatic pistol, with no manufacturer’s marks or serial number, hidden in a heating vent in Genco’s bedroom. As part of his plea, Genco admitted that he possessed both firearms in furtherance of his plot.
Genco pleaded guilty in October 2022 to one count of attempting to commit a hate crime.
Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Cheryl Mimura, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera announced the sentence imposed today by Senior U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott. Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Gaffney Painter and Timothy S. Mangan are representing the United States in this case.