Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEPHI — A Nephi man was arrested Thursday after his boss found what was believed to be a "hit list" sitting on his desk, detailing how to kill more than a dozen employees and then position himself to "snipe" police officers who responded, according to a police booking affidavit.
The 56-year-old man was booked into the Juab County Jail for investigation of making a terroristic threat.
On Thursday, the sheriff's office was called to a business in Levan where a manager found a note on an employee's desk. The employee had called in sick that day, the affidavit states.
The note listed four weapons to bring and numerous rounds of ammunition, areas he would "take out" people and stated, "14 total kills," according to the affidavit. The note also talked about cutting the internet so no calls could be made from landlines from inside the business, building a "cellphone jammer," and finding a high position to "snipe" if police arrived, the affidavit states.
The manager told deputies the employee had not caused any problems in the past. But recently he had been "acting strangely," was wanting to work alone and had flown a drone around the area, according to the affidavit.
With assistance from the Utah County SWAT team, deputies went to the man's house to serve a search warrant. When questioned, the man said that police were probably there to talk about "that stupid note" he wrote on Wednesday, the affidavit states.
"(He) said he was thinking about it and what would happen if they had a mass shooting because he had just got done reading an article about a mass shooting," according to the affidavit.
When asked if he planned to actually carry out his plan, the man told investigators, "No," the affidavit states. Deputies then expressed their concern that the man's note was very specific.
"(He) stated that it all comes from his experience with infantry and his training. (He) said you had to have a plan with how you were going to proceed, what enemies you expect to encounter, what casualties there will be and stuff like that," the affidavit states.
Police seized a dozen weapons from the man's house and noted he is a military veteran and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, in addition to other health issues, according to the affidavit.
"(He) had the firearms, knowledge and experience to carry out the plan he had written down on paper, especially with his military background. (He) however, states that he did not intend to do any of the acts he had written," the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. "I do believe that (he) has the knowledge and means to carry out the attack as he had written it."
