Las Vegas police may have prevented a mass shooting during the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday by arresting 33-year-old Matthew Desafio after he threatened massacre online.
“I’m coming for you tonight and I hope you get everything [expletive] A Vegas Golden Knights police officer is there to defend you! He said one message, according to local station KLAS. “Hope Sin City Ready for Mandalay Bay Massacre Part Two [sic]. “
In October 2017, a shooter who was staying on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest music festival that was happening below, killing 61 people and wounding hundreds more. It remains the largest mass shooting in American history.
Around noon on Tuesday, Las Vegas metro police reportedly responded to a store where Desafio was allegedly making threats and took the suspect into custody. According to reports, the suspect has a long history of harassing someone in that company.
Cops were also contacted by someone interested in comments DeSavio posted on Facebook about “conducting a mass shooting at T-Mobile Arena” as the Vegas Golden Knights won their first NHL championship Tuesday night.
The suspect reportedly asked the police if they had seen his Facebook posts when he was taken into custody. One of those messages referred to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre as “just a preview.”
Law enforcement says the suspect threatened to repeat the Facebook music festival massacre in October. DeSavio reportedly underwent a Nevada court-mandated psychiatric evaluation in November, but the case against him was dropped because the state could not provide the service on time.
Desafio is now charged with aggravated stalking and making a false threat related to a terrorist act.