20-year-old threatened ‘mass murder’ at Mississippi church on social media, cops say
Law enforcement in Mississippi have arrested a 20-year-old man accused of posting threats against his church on social media.
Ryan C. Evans, of Saltillo, Mississippi, was arrested Nov. 12 and charged with making terroristic threats, the Lee County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. Saltillo is a city of roughly 5,000 people just north of Tupelo.
A judge set Evans’ bond at $100,000, the sheriff’s department said.
According to the release, the FBI tipped off deputies about a possible threat at a Lee County church on Nov. 12.
“Upon further investigation it was determined an individual made a comment on a social media platform that he was planning ‘a mass murder’ at his church the next Sunday,” the sheriff’s department said. “The post was not specific as to which church, just that it was his church.”
Deputies arrested Evans at his home in Saltillo “without incident,” according to the release.
“The threat is believed to be isolated by this one individual, and we do not believe at this time that anyone else or any other organization is involved,” Sheriff Jim H. Johnson said during a news conference on Monday, Nov. 15.
Johnson said the threat “upon either church” was “diminished” once Evans was arrested. Both churches were also told about the threat and took actions to protect themselves, he said.
The case against Evans is expected to go before a grand jury in January.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 2:05 PM with the headline "20-year-old threatened ‘mass murder’ at Mississippi church on social media, cops say."
