Canadian teen arrested for threatening mass shooting at Florida Pride event: police
By Daniel Otis
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TORONTO (CTV Network) — A 17-year-old has been arrested in Canada for allegedly threatening to commit a mass shooting at a Pride event in Florida.
According to the West Palm Beach Police Department, the teen was arrested early Monday following an international investigation that the involved Toronto and Peel Regional Police, as well as the FBI.
The teen reportedly was on the video-chat site Omegle and brandished what appeared to be a handgun while threatening to shoot people at a Sunday “Pride on the Block” event in downtown West Palm Beach. Florida police say the teen claimed to live in the area and made anti-LGBTQ2S+ comments. Additional security was brought in following the threat.
Police say the gun seen in the video was recovered during the arrest in Ontario, and that Canadian authorities have charged the teen with threatening to commit a mass shooting. It is expected police will seek extradition to the U.S., where charges are still pending. As a minor, the suspect is not being named.
“People were very scared,” West Palm Beach deputy police chief Rick Morris said at a press conference on Monday. “The Pulse nightclub shooting is still on everybody’s minds, especially in our gay community.”
In June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando.
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Sonja Puzic
