SAN ANTONIO – A 19-year-old San Antonio man was arrested after threatening a mass killing at the Student Action Summit in Florida, the FBI said.
According to a federal complaint, Alejandro Richard Velasquez Gomez made social media posts that the FBI determined were similar to another one posted before an actual mass killing and investigators allege he was planning a copycat crime.
Recommended Videos
The complaint said that Gomez threatened “revenge” on the attendees of the event that was hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA on July 22-24.
The FBI said that Gomez’s plan was to execute a “day of retribution” similar to the mass killing carried out by Elliot Rodger in 2014, when he killed six people and injured 14 others by gunshot, stabbing and vehicle ramming near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Rodger then killed himself.
The Wagner High School graduate purchased a plane ticket from Austin to Tampa, Florida, on July 22 but then canceled his flight the night before.
Gomez was arrested on July 22 based on a Tampa arrest warrant charging him with making written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, the complaint said.
During a search of Gomez’s cellphone, the FBI also found images of child pornography.
Gomez is charged with threatening interstate communications and possession of child pornography.