TOLEDO, Ohio — (The video above is from February 2020)
A federal judge has sentenced an Ohio man who was charged with making an online threat to carry out a mass shooting in Illinois to six months in prison.
Ryan Gagnet, 22, of Maumee, also faces six months of home incarceration following his prison term and three years of supervised release.
Gagnet set off a panic and caused schools in Shorewood, Illinois, to cancel outdoor recess in February while he was in an online chat where users can talk anonymously, prosecutors said.
Authorities said Gagnet told others in the chat that he was “going to be on the news” and “commit a mass shooting” in Shorewood.
Gagnet later told investigators he wanted to see the other users’ frightened reactions, prosecutors said.
The threat caused schools in the town, which is southwest of Chicago, to cancel outdoor recess, hire extra security and go into lockdowns, prosecutors said.
Police in Shorewood said they were overwhelmed with calls from residents concerned about the threat.
On Feb. 5, the FBI identified a Twitter user who had posted a screenshot of a conversation with an anonymous user on an internet chat platform. The anonymous user was later identified as Lucas County resident Ryan James Gagnet.
Gagnet wrote, "Hi. It's going to be even more scary tomorrow. Because I'm going to be on the news. Commit a mass shooting. In Illoinis," records show.
Two days later, the IP address on the date and time the message was posted led the FBI to Gagnet. A special agent interviewed him and he stated, "Maybe 3 days ago (...) I was wearing a mask, and I was telling people that ah that there may be a mass shooting at some point...then I would just see how they ah their frightened reactions," court records read.
During the interview, records show that Gagnet added, "It was a one ah night thing... I may have talked to a dozen or so... I would say... do you want to see my face? And then they would say yes. And then I would say, well you are going to see my face on the news... And they would say why?... And I would say... because of what I am ab-going to do."