Utah man accused of mass shooting plot in court


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man accused of plotting a mass shooting spree at a downtown mall and a Sugar House movie theater to "kill as many people as possible," made his first court appearance Thursday.

Shackled with his hands in front of him and wearing an orange Salt Lake County Jail jumpsuit, Jack Harry Stiles, 42, appeared briefly before 3rd District Judge Robin Reese.

Tipped off by a hospital crisis worker, police learned in mid-August of Stiles plans to "randomly shoot and kill people" at the City Creek shopping center on Sept. 25, the anniversary of his mother's death. The upscale $1.7 billion center is located in the heart of Salt Lake City - across the street from the Mormon temple.

Stiles also told investigators he planned to open fire at a movie theater across town, and then wire a bomb underneath a transit bus.

It's unknown if Stiles would have gone through with the plan. Court documents show Stiles didn't have any weapons, though he was planning to buy two guns with silencers and stock up on ammunition.

Motivated to take action by the Washington Navy Yard shooting last Monday, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said he opted to take the threat seriously rather than regret not taking action.

After hearing about Stiles plan on Aug. 12, Gill said they began looking into his background and discovered that he had a history of mental illness and making threats.

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Gill said he become fixated on the locations in his plan, mapping them out and visiting them over and over again. Charging document show Stiles had "scoped and mapped out the best spots" for hiding to "kill the most amount of people."

Stiles' last known residence was at a transitional housing facility for Valley Mental Health. Patients live in the facility as part of a treatment plan and typically stay for less than a year. Police discovered the alleged plot after a crisis worker at Pioneer Valley Hospital made them aware of the types of things he was talking about.

Stiles is in jail on $1 million bail.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 9/26/2013 4:03:39 AM (GMT -6:00)

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Associated Press and Pat Reavy

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