Las Vegas police arrested a man who allegedly threatened a mass shooting during Tuesday’s Stanley Cup Final Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena, according to multiple outlets.
On Tuesday, police reportedly responded to a local business before noon where a man, who was later identified as Matthew DeSavio, 33, made the shooting threat.
According to the Associated Press, which cited the arrest report, there were at least three people who reached out to authorities about DeSavio, including a relative with a restraining order against him.
The suspect reportedly posted incriminating messages on social media about the game, saying the city should be ready for a “massacre.”
“I’m coming for you guys tonight and I hope you get every [expletive] police officer in Vegas Golden Knights there to defend you!” one message read, police told KLAS. “Hope Sin City is ready for the Mandalay Bay massacre part duex [sic].”
The latter part of the message refers to the Las Vegas Strip massacre in October 2017, where 58 people were killed on the night of the shooting while over 500 were injured at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival.
It is the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
“I warned y’all October 1st was just a preview,” DeSavio reportedly wrote in a separate post.
During his arrest — just hours before the game — Tuesday, police officers reported that DeSavio “declared several excited utterances asking if anyone had seen his Facebook posts yet and that the Knights need to win by a certain amount or he will do a repeat of the Mandalay Bay 1 October shooting,” per KLAS.
This week’s incident wasn’t the first time DeSavio has been investigated for threatening social media posts.
In October of last year, DeSavio was reported for a “disturbing Facebook post” and ordered by a judge to undergo a competency evaluation, but would later be released without treatment.
“Something big is about to hit the Vegas Strip. #October1stwasjustapreview! Let’s [expletive] [expletive] up before I literally #blowup Paradise NV,” a Facebook post read, according to police, KLAS reported.
Though not formally charged yet, DeSavio now faces charges of threatening an act of terrorism or mass destruction and is being held on $60,000 bail, according to the AP.
