A man threatened “mass violence” against an elementary school and business in Charles County, Maryland, and was arrested Wednesday, authorities say.
Earl Benjamin Washington Jr., 46, of Lexington Park, was wanted “in connection with making several threats of mass violence” on Tuesday, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office said.
Washington called Gale-Bailey Elementary School in Marbury and a business in White Plains and threatened violence, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The calls to the specific locations are related to people he knows and is believed to be domestic-related,” a statement issued at about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday said. It was unclear what time Washington allegedly placed the calls.
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Officers got a warrant for Washington’s arrest and searched for him, the sheriff’s office said. Washington was found and arrested Wednesday morning in St. Mary’s County, the sheriff’s office said in an update. Officers assigned to the warrant/fugitive unit and domestic violence unit found him, they said. The investigation is ongoing.
The search for Washington occurred as the nation grapples with the mass murder of 19 children and two teachers inside a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.
“Out of an abundance of caution,” extra officers will be at Gale-Bailey Elementary this week, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday evening.
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