18-year-old arrested after making 'numerous' threats online to shoot up church, admits to 'trolling'
A man whose 18th birthday was just last week was booked into jail early Wednesday morning after the FBI contacted the local sheriff's office about numerous disturbing threats posted on a couple YouTube videos.
The suspect allegedly referenced multiple mass shooters, praising and supporting them, officials said.
Seth Montes of Deltona remains in the Volusia County Jail with a $10,000 bond amount as of this writing, charged with one count of written threats to kill, do bodily harm, conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism. It's a second-degree felony which could carry a sentence of up to 15 years in state prison and $10,000 in fines if convicted.
The FBI reached out to Volusia Sheriff's Office (VSO) detectives about multiple comments made on news broadcast videos posted to YouTube.
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These threats allegedly made by Montes were on newscasts about the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando where 49 people died and the 2022 mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs with five deceased victims. According to the sheriff's office, the 18-year-old's comment threatened:
I’m going to shoot up a church next lol have fun seeing me on the news."But the comments didn't stop there.
Montes is accused of making further disturbing posts regarding other mass shootings and assailants. Earlier this year, three children and three adults were killed at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, before the shooter was killed by law enforcement. The 18-year-old specifically commented about this:
I’m going to be the next [shooter's name]. And instead of being a school it will be a church."The comments continued, referencing the 2015 shooting of a Charleston, South Carolina, church that left nine people dead. Montes' comment on this mass shooting read:
I support [shooter's name] and I’m going to follow his footsteps next week at my local church."The video comments were traced back the 18-year-old's home where VSO detectives confronted him as he admitted to producing the threats but said he was "only trolling," according to officials. Montes was ultimately taken into custody.
No specific locations of churches or schools were identified in the threatening comments, and after a search of the Deltona home, no firearms were discovered except for one kept in a locked gun safe.
