Ontario teen charged over alleged mass shooting threat at Florida Pride event

A 17-year-old from Ontario has been charged with allegedly making online threats toward an LGBTQ event in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Miami Police Department received a report on Sunday, June 5 of someone on the video chat platform Omegle threatening to commit a mass shooting at Pride on the Block 2022 in West Palm Beach.

Police said the suspect was seen waving a gun in the video, making anti-LGBTQ comments, and claiming to live in Palm Beach County, where he said he was going to commit the mass shooting that day.

Miami Police Department notified the West Palm Beach Department and a criminal investigation was launched.

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The WPBPD said in a news release that their officers collaborated with the FBI, New York Police Department, Toronto Police Service and Peel Regional Police to determine the location of the suspect.

The teenager was arrested in Canada in the early hours of Monday, June 6, and the video, as well as the firearm seen in the video, were recovered at the time of the arrest.

Canadian authorities have charged the suspect with threatening to commit a mass shooting, and similar charges are pending in Florida, including written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.