CENTERVILLE, Ohio – An Ohio man who previously attended school in Monterey County was arrested by the FBI Monday on federal charges for threatening to commit a mass shooting at Washington Middle School in Salinas.
Alex Jaques, 21 of Centerville, Ohio, made the interstate threats in a video posted to YouTube, which was reported to the FBI Threat Operations Center on Nov. 15, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Ohio.
In the video, Jaques allegedly uses multiple firearms to shoot a Chromebook computer and threatens to attack Washington Middle School, the Attorney’s Office said. The Chromebook is shown with a Washington School sticker affixed to it. The video also depicts an uzi-style weapon being discharged in rapid succession and multiple shots fired from a rifle-style weapon.
Other videos on Jaques’ YouTube channel reportedly show him driving while shooting at street signs, the Attorney’s Office said.
While executing a search warrant at Jaques’ residence Monday, FBI agents seized eight firearms, including an uzi-style weapon.
After communicating with Salinas school officials, law enforcement discovered Jaques had previously been a student within Monterey County.
In response to Jaques’ arrest, Salinas Union High School District superintendent Dan Burns released a statement to students and families Monday afternoon to assuage safety concerns and express thanks to law enforcement.
“We are grateful that the FBI and law enforcement in both states collaborated to ensure that this video and threats were taken seriously,” Burns said.
Burns explained in his statement that last week, SUHSD was notified of Jaques’ video and threats by local law enforcement. At that time, the district was told there was no immediate danger to students or staff because Jaques was in another state and the police in that state were dealing with him. The district did, however, add security to Washington Middle’s campus while the investigation into Jaques’ video was in progress, Burns said.
SUHSD students are currently out of class for Thanksgiving break, but Burns assured that when the district returns to campus next week, “we will continue to have additional security measures in place.”
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