Police say they thwarted a terror threat by taking into custody an Anne Arundel County man thought to be planning a mass shooting at a workplace, an incident that for officers was eerily reminiscent of last week's violence at a The Dark Knight Rises screening in Aurora, Colo.
According to Prince George's County Police Chief Mark Magaw, the 28-year-old man called office supplier Pitney Bowes Wednesday, where he had worked for a subcontractor, and referred to himself as a "joker."
"I am going to load my guns and blow everybody up," he said, according to Magaw. Investigators say a search of the man's home turned up more than 25 guns, including rifles and handguns, and several thousand rounds of ammunition. He was taken in for an emergency psychiatric evaluation.
A police official with knowledge of the investigation identified the man as Neil Prescott of Crofton, Md. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
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The man was being treated at Anne Arundel Medical Center. No charges have been filed.
Magaw said the man's reference to himself as "joker," the name of a comic book villain, added to police concern."In light of what's recently happened, it's fairly obvious and that's how we took it," he said.
When police paid him a visit prior to the move to take him into custody, authorities said Prescott was wearing a shirt that said, "Guns don't kill people, I do."
Pitney Bowes spokeswoman Carol Wallace said in an emailed statement that Prescott was an employee of a subcontractor to the company and had not been on company property in more than four months.
"At Pitney Bowes we have clear security protocol and when we had concerns about this individual, we contacted authorities," Wallace wrote. She declined to answer questions.
A previous version of this story incorrectly said a man had been arrested.
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According to Prince George's County Police Chief Mark Magaw, the 28-year-old man called office supplier Pitney Bowes Wednesday, where he had worked for a subcontractor, and referred to himself as a "joker."
"I am going to load my guns and blow everybody up," he said, according to Magaw. Investigators say a search of the man's home turned up more than 25 guns, including rifles and handguns, and several thousand rounds of ammunition. He was taken in for an emergency psychiatric evaluation.
A police official with knowledge of the investigation identified the man as Neil Prescott of Crofton, Md. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
Download The Baltimore Sun's new iPhone app.
The man was being treated at Anne Arundel Medical Center. No charges have been filed.
Magaw said the man's reference to himself as "joker," the name of a comic book villain, added to police concern."In light of what's recently happened, it's fairly obvious and that's how we took it," he said.
When police paid him a visit prior to the move to take him into custody, authorities said Prescott was wearing a shirt that said, "Guns don't kill people, I do."
Pitney Bowes spokeswoman Carol Wallace said in an emailed statement that Prescott was an employee of a subcontractor to the company and had not been on company property in more than four months.
"At Pitney Bowes we have clear security protocol and when we had concerns about this individual, we contacted authorities," Wallace wrote. She declined to answer questions.
A previous version of this story incorrectly said a man had been arrested.
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