Dec. 9 (UPI) — A Florida man has been charged with making threats to commit a mass shooting in the New York City subway over Thanksgiving weekend, federal prosecutors say.
Robert Trout III, 19, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was arrested on Nov. 22 and has been charged with “knowingly transmitting in interstate commerce a true threat,” U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced Friday.
Authorities say Trout had made threatening statements on social media suggesting he wanted to commit a mass shooting over Thanksgiving weekend.
“According to the complaint, Trout posted a video on Instagram making threats to go to New York City and ’cause havoc on the subway’ by shooting ‘anybody’ that Trout sees,” DOJ officials said. “Trout further threatened that this shooting would occur on the evening of Thanksgiving.”
An arrest report obtained by WFLA-TV indicates authorities were anonymously tipped on Trout’s alleged threats.
According to the Justice Department, Trout said “if you’re from New York City, do not take the train on Thursday evening,” and bragged about having two weapons with extended clips.
“That’s sixty shots — that’s sixty people dead,” Trout said, according to the Justice Department.
He appeared in a Tampa courtroom Thursday and was ordered detained pending further proceedings, authorities said.
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