Maryland mass shooting suspect arrested

Sources: Maryland mass shooting suspect arrested

July 27, 2012 - 10:23 am

Authorities in Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties have foiled what they believe would have been a mass shooting by a man who was about to be fired from his job, police sources tell ABC 7 News.

Colorado movie theater shooting photos: Horror inside Aurora movie theater

Law enforcement sources tell ABC 7's Brad Bell that the suspect, who has yet to be identified, was arrested in Crofton on Thursday night. According to officials, the man was facing termination from his job at Pitney Bowes, the document, mailing and shipping company.

The suspect made a reference to the Joker, a source said.

Authorities say they found an "arsenal" of weapons in his home at the time of his arrest and that he had made threats directed toward his employer.

Law enforcement sources say the suspect allegedly called a former co-worker and threatened Thursday night last that he wanted to shoot his former boss.

Another law enforcement source says the suspect was prepared to act on his threat. Pitney Bowes' Maryland offices are located in Lanham.

A law enforcement source told ABC 7 that they believe the foiled shooting "could have been another Aurora," making reference to the mass shooting that happened last Friday at a suburban Denver movie theater.

On July 20, a man shot more than 70 people inside an Aurora, Colo. movie theater during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. The accused shooter, James Holmes, will be formally charged in connection with the shooting next week.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

Sources: Maryland mass shooting suspect arrested | WJLA.com

Maryland man arrested after threatening mass shooting at workplace, authorities say

Published July 27, 2012
FoxNews.com

DEVELOPING: Authorities have arrested a Maryland man they say threatened to carry out a mass shooting at his workplace, Fox News has learned.

Police arrested 28-year-old Neil Prescott of Crofton, Md., after the man allegedly called his employer and threatened to shoot people.

WJLA-TV reports that the suspect was about to get fired from his job. He was arrested in Crofton, Md., Thursday night.

A source close to the investigation told Fox News that the suspect is "emotionally disturbed."

When police took him into custody, they found an "arsenal" of weapons inside his home, the source said.

The Prince George's County Police Department is planning a news conference on the investigation at 1 p.m. local time.

Maryland man arrested after threatening mass shooting at workplace, authorities say | Fox News

Posted at 01:30 PM ET, 07/27/2012
TheWashingtonPost

Maryland police may have thwarted shooting

By Matt Zapotosky

Authorities have arrested a man who referred to himself as “a joker” and threatened to shoot people at his former workplace in Prince George’s County, investigators said Friday.

The investigators said that the man, identified in a warrant as Neil E. Trescott of Crofton, called Pitney Bowes this week and threatened to carry out a shooting there.

"I am a joker. I’m going to load my guns and blow everybody up,” the man said over the phone to a man at Pitney Bowes, according to a warrant. He later called back and acknowledged that it was not smart to be making such threats over the phone, investigators said.

Pitney Bowes called Prince George’s Police on Wednesday. The man lives in Crofton, and he was taken into custody there by Anne Arundel County police.

Police there found more than 20 rifles and handguns and 40 steel boxes of ammunition at his home, the investigators said.

The day he was arrested, he wore a T shirt that said “Guns don’t kill people. I do.”

The suspect is behing held at an Anne Arundel hospital for medical evaluation, authorities said.

Pitney Bowes said in a statement that the suspect arrested was an employee of a subcontractor to Pitney Bowes. He has not been on any Pitney Bowes property in more than four months.

“What we believe was significant threat has been averted,” Prince George’s Police Chief Mark McGaw said.

Authorities wrote in an affidavit that they believed that Trescott was referencing the movie theater shootings in Colorado when he called himself a joker.

In Aurora, Colo., 12 people were killed and 50 others wounded during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie.

Police were first tipped to the danger on Wednesday this week, when a supervisor at Pitney Bowes called to report an employee had made menacing and threatening comments, said Prince George’s County Deputy Police Chief Hector Velez. The supervisor said he was in the process of terminating the employee, and in two phone calls, the employee said he was “a joker” and intended to shoot up Pitney Bowes, Velez said.

Velez said Prince George’s County police immediately launched an investigation to determine the seriousness of the threats.

“When we initially received the call, obviously given the events that occurred in Colorado, the fact that he made mention of being the joker, we took it seriously,” Velez said.

Anne Arundel County police officials said Trescott was calm and cooperative when he was arrested. Police evacuated some nearby apartments when they searched Trescott’s home.

Police said they do not yet know where or when Trescott bought the weapons. They have not yet interviewed him.

He has not yet been charged.

Maryland police may have thwarted shooting - Crime Scene - The Washington Post

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