In wake of El Paso shooting, Florida man arrested for hoax to shoot up Merritt Island Walmart
A Florida man was charged with starting a phone call hoax threatening to shoot up a Merritt Island Walmart, just a day after the El Paso shooting.
At 4:12 p.m. on Sunday, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office got a 911 call from the Walmart, 1500 East Merritt Island Causeway, in reference to a possible shooting, according to a sheriff’s office affidavit.
All available sheriff’s deputies rushed to the Walmart and canvassed the area to try to find potential shooters, deputies said.
Employees told detectives they got a phone call from a man, who was later identified as Richard Seepersad, that said two kids were coming to the store with rifles to “shoot the place up.” Seepersad told the employees that his name is Michael and then kept repeating that two kids were going to the Walmart.
Detectives were able to track down the caller and arrived at as Seepersad’s home about four hours after the call was made.
According to detectives, Seepersad told them that he works as a car salesman and was talking with one of his coworkers about the shooting threat.
When he went to go get coffee from a gas station a teenager with a red shirt outside the store asked him for money. Seepersad let him use his phone instead, deputies said. Seepersad said he then went inside and got some coffee.
He then got his cellphone back, finished his shift at work and went home, deputies said.
Seepersad confirmed to deputies that the number that called the Walmart was his, but denied making the call.
When detectives reviewed the surveillance video from the gas station the next day, there was no teenager on the video.
Detectives went back to Seepersad and told him of their discovery, but he still claimed a teenager made the call. and gave deputies his phone.
Detectives found Google searches for Walmart stores around one minute before the threatening call was made, detectives said.
When Seepersad went to the sheriff’s office later in the day to conduct more interviews, his story changed.
Deputies said he told them that he and his coworkers had been talking about the shooting threat at work. He then went outside and googled Walmarts near him. Then he called the store and told them two people were on their way to the store to shoot the place up. He then hung up, erased the call and deleted his browsing history.
He was charged with making a false report of a shooting and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. He is being held at the Brevard County Jail without bond.
The threat came one day after a mass shooting outside of an El Paso Walmart, where 22 people were killed. The hoax also came the same day a man in Dayton, Ohio, killed 9 people and injured 27 others.
This story was originally published August 6, 2019 at 4:43 PM.
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