Man Allegedly Threatened to Kill People at Cybertruck Event

Prosecutors say Florida man threatened 'mass casualty event'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 1, 2023 11:40 AM CST
Man Allegedly Threatened to Kill People at Cybertruck Event
The Tesla Cybertruck is unveiled at Tesla's design studio Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, in Hawthorne, California.   (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

The arrest of a Florida man may have prevented a "mass casualty event" at Thursday's Cybertruck event in Austin, prosecutors say. According to an arrest affidavit, 29-year-old Orlando resident Paul Ryan Overeem drove from Florida to Texas after threatening to kill people at the event at Tesla headquarters, the Austin American-Statesman reports. According to the affidavit, Overeem said in a chat on Instagram on Nov. 9 that he was planning to attack the event and it was "up to you guys to stop me." He said he planned to kill people and "I would like you to do something about it so I don't have to. I wanna die."

According to the affidavit, Overeem was identified after Instagram gave authorities the phone number associated with the account. Overeem, who has no known ties to Austin, was arrested after he arrived in the city this week, NBC News reports. He was booked into custody Wednesday and is being held on $300,000 bond. He has been charged with terroristic threat, a felony with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, reports the American-Statesman. (More Cybertruck stories.)

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