Man Arrested in Las Vegas for Alleged Mass Shooting Threat at Stanley Cup Match

Authorities in Nevada detained a man on Tuesday, accused of threatening to instigate a mass shooting at the Stanley Cup Final match just hours before its commencement in Las Vegas. The apprehended individual, identified by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department as Matthew DeSavio, has been described as a 33-year-old with a history of mental illness and arrests that would potentially pose a threat to public safety. At present, there is no confirmation on whether any weapons were found in his possession.

There was no legal representation on behalf of DeSavio listed in the jail or court records as of Thursday evening.

DeSavio allegedly disseminated threats via text messages, phone calls, and social media posts on Tuesday. He vowed to unleash a massacre at the hockey game, rivaling the severity of the mass shooting in October 2017 on the Las Vegas Strip, which stands as the deadliest in contemporary American history with 60 fatalities and several hundreds injured.

According to the police report, three people, including a childhood acquaintance alleging stalking by DeSavio for approximately a decade and a relative with a restraining order against him, tipped off the police leading to his arrest on Tuesday afternoon.

Court records reveal a trail of DeSavio’s arrests in Las Vegas since 2014 on charges such as domestic battery and stalking. His most recent arrest was in October, on a serious charge of threatening an act of terrorism or mass destruction.

There’s limited information available regarding the nature of these past threats. However, DeSavio was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation, and his public defender claimed in a motion filed in March that he had been diagnosed with mental illness and found unfit for trial. Despite this, he was kept in the county jail in downtown Las Vegas for over 70 days due to a lack of available beds in the state’s two forensic psychiatric facilities.

DeSavio was released after a judge dismissed the terrorism charge against him in April, as the state again failed to place him in a treatment facility.

Now, after his latest arrest, DeSavio faces another charge of threatening an act of terrorism or mass destruction, along with a felony charge of aggravated stalking and a gross misdemeanor charge for allegedly violating a restraining order against a family member.

According to the arrest report, he was taken into custody at the workplace of one of the individuals who had reported him to the police, alleging years of harassment. As police were interviewing the woman, DeSavio called her and was arrested without incident upon his arrival.

As of Thursday, DeSavio was in the county jail on a $60,000 bail. Records indicate that he has yet to be formally charged in the case and is expected to appear in court next week.

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