Man admits to posting UA mass-shooting threat
Michael Lee, 27, is in jail on a state charge of making terroristic threats
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - One man’s online threat of executing a mass shooting at the University of Arizona has landed him in jail. Just one day after he made the posts to Snapchat, the consequences caught up with 27-year-old Michael Pengchung Lee.
The state and federal complaints both say Lee posted the threats on Sunday night. By Monday night, he was stopped for speeding and arrested, and that’s when, according to the complaints, Lee admitted to making the threats.
“Wow, that is really terrifying,” said Daisy Anderson, who lives next to the address for 27-year-old Michael Lee.
On Tuesday night, Lee was in Pima County Jail on the state charge of making terroristic threats.
No one answered the door at the address Wednesday afternoon. Both state and federal complaints say Lee posted to a group on Snapchat under the name asianluluu. “There’s going to be a mass tragedy and atrocity at the UofA Soon”… “with an AR-15″… but as to when he replied “damn I haven’t decided yet.”
“He didn’t seem like that kind of person but we had very little interaction. He wasn’t overtly friendly when we’d say hi to him, so,” Anderson said. “Just kind of look down and keep walking, which, no big deal. Not everyone is friendly, but, yeah, definitely a little odd.”
UAPD was alerted to the chat Sunday night, worked with the FBI, and used UAPD’s license plate reader to see that Lee’s vehicle had been seen on University Greek Row almost every night from October 11th to the 20th between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. Comments referring to “chads and stacies” are suspected by agents to mean members of fraternities and sororities, which involuntary celibates commonly use, and the complaints say Lee’s Instagram shows him identifying as a former incel. Complaints say Lee finished the conversation saying, “I’m going to do it guys, my mind is made up and there’s nothing u can do or say to stop me.”
“Wow, yeah, that’s very scary,” Anderson said.
The complaints say Lee was stopped for speeding Monday night and that after being read his rights, he admitted to writing the Snapchat threats, saying he was frustrated at home and needed to vent.
“I mean, that’s just crazy. I had no idea. Yeah, I knew that someone got, my boyfriend just told me today that someone got, like, arrested,” Anderson said.
“Yeah, that must be who he was talking about because, like he knew, he just told us today that somebody had been arrested,” said her friend Gabe Bostick, who was visiting.
An email to students said that Lee is not a student at U of A. Federal charges are possible.
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