Man accused of making shooting threats at Valley Transit Agency meeting in California
A San Jose man was arrested after he was accused of making threatening comments involving guns at a Valley Transportation Agency meeting on Dec. 9.
His alleged comments came a few months after a mass shooting at the VTA left 10 people dead.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Roland LeBrun, 69, was arrested on Dec. 14. The virtual meeting was attended by VTA employees and members of its board of directors, and attendees said they feared for their personal safety, the release said.
During the public comment portion of the VTA’s policy advisory committee meeting, LeBrun reportedly responded to a VTA staff report by saying that he was “going to be very clear,” The Mercury News reported.
“Is that my gun?” LeBrun said, according to The Mercury News. “Well, I know… so I’m not going to talk about guns. Okay, but I’m ready to shoot and take care of this problem once and for all if things don’t change. And that deadline is going to be very, very early in the first quarter of next year. And that’s my final warning to the VTA.”
LeBrun was arrested on charges of making criminal threats, deputies said.
The threat comes roughly six months after 10 VTA employees died, including the gunman, in a mass shooting at a light rail yard in San Jose. That shooting was committed by an employee who had worked for the agency for 20 years, McClatchy News reported.
“We take statements like that extremely seriously in light of what happened in May,” VTA spokeswoman Stacey Hendler Ross told the Mercury News. “When someone makes a comment like that, you have to take it seriously.”
In August, another man was arrested after making comments about wanting to “shoot up” the agency, McClatchy News reported. He claimed that he was “just joking” and quoting a movie.
LeBrun is currently being held on $100,000 bail in the Santa Clara County Jail, according to jail records.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 4:39 PM.