An Ocala man was arrested for threatening to commit a mass shooting in Lake County through Snapchat messages.
Deputies with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a call for service from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday, according to an arrest report from MCSO. They received a call in which the complainant described concerning Snapchat messages being sent to his daughter from 22-year-old Matthew James Wise.
Further investigation revealed that Wise lived at 6 Spring Loop Circle and was sending messages from Marion County. The messages contained threats to commit drive by shootings, a mass shooting in Lake County and suicide, the report said.
In speaking with the complainant’s daughter by telephone, she advised the deputy that Wise had been sending messages of that nature for “some time.” He threatened to shoot her family and kill himself. She was able to send deputies several screenshots of a Snapchat conversation between her and Wise, the report said.
Deputies read one such message where Wise stated “I’ll start mass murdering people until I find and start in Lake County.” Another message stated “you’ll see me on Facebook Live” after he threatened to “blow his brains out on the floor,” the report said.
Deputies then responded to Wise’s address and spoke to him. He confirmed the Snapchat account in question belonged to him, and he sent those messages. However, he stated he was not serious in his threats to kill himself. He was not able to provide a definitive answer to whether he sent the threats to commit a mass shooting or not, the report said.
Due to the evidence, Wise was arrested on charge of sending a written threat to conduct mass shooting. He was transported to the Marion County Jail and held without bond.
