(NEW YORK) — A Texas man was arrested Friday after law enforcement intercepted a message indicating that he was planning to proceed with a mass shooting at a Walmart, police said.
“Coleman Thomas Blevins, age 28, of Kerrville, was arrested by the KCSO Special Operations Division in the 1000 block of Junction Highway on Friday, May 28th, on a warrant for a Terroristic Threat to Create Public Fear of Serious Bodily Injury. Supporting the arrest were the DPS-CID, FBI, Kerrville PD Patrol Division, and US Secret Service,” the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook statement Sunday night.
During the investigation, KCSO investigators spoke with Blevins and confirmed his affiliation and networking with extremist ideologies, the statement read.
On Thursday, the KCSO Special Operations Division intercepted a message indicating that Blevins was “preparing to proceed with a mass shooting,” officials said, adding that in the message, Blevins made a specific threat that included Walmart.
With the help of the FBI, KCSO investigators said they confirmed Blevins’ “capability of following through with the threat and moved immediately to arrest him.”
After the arrest, investigators executed a search warrant at Blevins’ home, where they found “firearms, ammunition, electronic evidence, concentrated THC, and radical ideology paraphernalia, including books, flags, and handwritten documents,” they said.
Blevins was booked into the Kerr County Jail on a $250,000 bond, where he remains as of Sunday night. He is on active felony probation and prohibited from possessing firearms.
“Our investigators did outstanding work in this case, and possibly saved many lives,” Sheriff Larry Leitha said. “The plot interrupted in this case is unthinkable.”
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