A person was arrested after he introduced a gun and loaded knives to a Virginia church on Sunday after “imprecise threats” he posted on Instagram sparked a multi-state investigation, police stated.
Roy Jiang, 35, of Falls Church close to Arlington, was charged on Sunday with making threats of bodily hurt and carrying a harmful weapon into a spot of non secular worship, the Prince William Police Division stated in an announcement. New release.
Officers responded to Park Valley Church in Haymarket, about 40 miles southwest of Falls Church, simply after 10 a.m. after receiving a warning a couple of “potential risk of violence,” the division stated.
They stated the warning initially got here from out of state, after police in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, obtained a tip from a Laurel resident saying that they had noticed “suspicious and disturbing” Instagram posts from the suspect. It was not instantly clear how the Maryland resident discovered the fliers or whether or not he knew the suspect.
“Within the posts, imprecise threats of violence had been made, a few of which included images of a location later recognized as Park Valley Church,” Prince William County police stated.
Authorities had been in a position to shortly find a doable deal with for Jiang in Falls Church, prompting police in Fairfax County to ship officers to the residence, however they didn’t discover him there.
Because the investigation continued, police in Prince William County had been alerted to the state of affairs and despatched officers to the Park Valley Church.
Police stated an off-duty plainclothes officer and church workers had been in a position to find the suspect and take him into custody close to the church entrance with out incident.
It was later decided that Jiang entered the constructing by means of a separate door and was contained in the church earlier than his arrest. Police stated church providers had been persevering with on the time.
The suspect was discovered carrying a loaded handgun, an additional journal, in addition to a folding knife and a “bank card” formed folding knife, police stated. He was discovered to have a hid weapon allow and the firearm was not reported stolen, they added.
Paperwork and digital objects had been later seized on the suspect’s residence after a significant emergency warrant and search warrant had been obtained, police stated.
Police stated Jiang is being held with out bail. They’ve requested anybody who might have had earlier contact with Jiang within the lead-up to Sunday’s incident to name Prince William County police at 703-792-7000.