Maryland youth, 18, charged after allegedly threatening to ‘shoot up’ school
Montgomery County MD October 21 2018
An 18-year-old Montgomery County man was charged with making a “threat of mass violence” after he allegedly posted a photo on social media of himself holding an assault-style rifle and threatening to “shoot up” Walter Johnson High School, police officials said Saturday.
Luis Amilcar Cabrera of Rockville was being held on no-bond status at the Montgomery County jail. He is expected to make his first court appearance Monday.
“There is absolutely no excuse for this type of behavior,” said Capt. Paul Starks, a Montgomery police spokesman. “We take all threats seriously.”
It was not clear Saturday what Cabrera’s intentions were, if he had access to weapons, or how serious he was about carrying out the threats he had allegedly made. Starks said the case remains under investigation.
It also was not clear if Cabrera had retained an attorney. His family members could not immediately be reached for comment.
At least some of Cabrera’s online postings were spotted by students at the high school in Bethesda, where Cabrera had been a student but did not graduate, according to police and school officials. The students reported what they saw to a police officer assigned to Walter Johnson High and to school administrators, according to police and school officials and to court filings.
Starks credited the students with speaking up “so we could begin investigating and tracking this guy.”
Police arrested Cabrera on Thursday night in Towson, north of Baltimore. He was charged Friday and placed in jail.
On Saturday, Walter Johnson High’s principal emailed parents about the arrest. She, too, credited the students with coming forward, and speaking with the school’s resource officer.
“Our SRO was able to work with her colleagues to keep our school and community safe,” wrote the principal, Jennifer Baker.
Cabrera withdrew from Walter Johnson High in the winter of 2018 and never graduated, Derek Turner, a school system spokesman, said Saturday.
In February, Cabrera allegedly posted a message on Snapchat stating, “I hope everyone at WJ dies,” according to police allegations filed in court.
“Students at Walter Johnson HS brought it to the attention of the principal who then contacted police,” the court records state.
The February statement, as described in court records, made no direct threats. Cabrera was evaluated, and counseling was recommended, according to court records.
On Oct. 5, according to police, a student at Walter Johnson High told an assistant principal of a video that Cabrera posted on Snapchat that showed “someone holding a rifle with a loaded magazine with the words ‘Stop Power’ on it,” police wrote.
On Oct. 12, several students provided police with photos of Cabrera holding a rifle. The students said he also had written “I hate WJ” and “Ha, ha, I’m going to shoot up the school,” police said.
Cabrera also had been depicted in videos holding a .40-caliber rifle and had stated he keeps an AR-15 rifle for protection, according to the court filings.
“The school notified all security officers to be on alert for Cabrera’s presence if he came to the school,” investigators wrote in court papers. “A letter was drafted and sent to Cabrera to (officially) inform him that he is not allowed to come on school grounds, and his photo was distributed to all the main office staff in order to not allow him into school.”
In seeking criminal charges against Cabrera, investigators stated that several students and school officials were placed in “reasonable fear” a crime of violence would be committed, according to court records.
Washington Post
