http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...d-florida-gun-legislation-20180321-story.html
The new law signed by Gov. Rick Scott on March 9, one week before it was applied to Velasquez, allows law enforcement to seize firearms from people deemed by a court to be mentally ill or who present a violent threat to themselves or others.
“We are grateful that this avenue is available to us now; it will help OPD — and all law enforcement agencies — further protect the communities we serve,” OPD Chief John Mina said in a statement.
Kendra Parris, an attorney for the Velasquez family, called the young man’s treatment by police “shameful.”
“Officer [Jeffrey] Panter took a handful of online comments — none of which was an actual threat — from a forum in which people are known to troll and act like ‘edgelords,’ ” she said, and added that the UCF police interrogation was “coercive.”
Parris underscored that the only gun police are holding belonged to Velasquez’s father.
UCF Police Department spokeswoman Courtney Gilmartin said in a statement that UCF police acted appropriately and Velasquez was not misled. “We should all sleep easier at night knowing that a firearm was removed from his household and that he is barred from purchasing any others.”
Velasquez, who is still enrolled in classes, was not criminally charged. He has been “trespassed” from campus and his conduct is being reviewed by the university, she said.
The petition for a risk protection order, which was obtained by the Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday, shows that Velasquez published a comment on Reddit on Feb. 10 under the group thread “You guys are too weak to be a school shooter,” saying, “Maybe for now but not forever.”
UCF police got involved after receiving several calls from students reporting Velasquez’s post, made under the username “The Real UCF Chris.” He also praised Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, commenting in a Reddit thread about Paddock’s autopsy, “R.I.P. my hero.”
In a later comment under a thread about the Parkland shooting, Velasquez wrote, “Cruz is a hero!,” an apparent reference to accused gunman Nikolas Cruz, the petition shows.
Once UCF police linked the posts to Velasquez, they interviewed him March 5. The injunction paperwork shows he admitted to writing the posts and said he had “had thoughts and urges to commit a mass shooting since his sophomore year of high school in 2014.”
But, police said, Velasquez admitted he “did not have the courage to go through with it, yet.”
Police said he told them that if he were to commit a mass shooting, he would target Odyssey Middle School and Lake Nona High School, because of his experience being bullied as a former student, and would use an “AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle to commit those shootings.”
He told police he hadn’t prepared for a mass shooting and it had “always just been a thought” in his head.
After the interview that same day, he was admitted to a mental health center under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows the involuntary commitment of those found to be a threat to themselves or others, because of his “homicidal ideation,” police said.
Orlando police, along with UCF police and an FBI special agent, went to Velasquez’s home, where the father voluntarily turned over his firearm, a Taurus “UltraLite” revolver, which records show Velasquez had learned to shoot on his 19th birthday.
“Due to the respondent’s admissions of detailed homicidal ideation, your petitioner is gravely concerned that a real or perceived life event could unpredictably cause your respondent to obtain a firearm and commit a mass shooting,” Orlando police Sgt. Matthew Ochiuzzo wrote in the petition.
Lorena Hitchcock, a spokeswoman with Orange County Public Schools, said parents at both Lake Nona High School and Odyssey Middle School were made aware of the threat last week and the district would be ramping up the security presence at both campuses.
The risk protection order against Velasquez, which required him to turn over any guns in his possession and prohibits him from obtaining any others, is temporary. A hearing is scheduled for later this month in Orange County circuit court.
Parris said police are “dragging an innocent student with zero history of violence or mental health issues through the mud.”
In the court order, police said Velasquez had seen a therapist before, but no longer was. He said he had been diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder before, but it “lasted until he was in third grade.”
Velasquez has since been released from the behavioral center, Parris said.
“If an individual is released from a Baker Act examination, he has, by definition, been determined by the doctor not to be a danger to himself or others,” she said.
bpadro@orlandosentinel.com or 407-232-0202 or follow me on Twitter @BiancaJoanie
The new law signed by Gov. Rick Scott on March 9, one week before it was applied to Velasquez, allows law enforcement to seize firearms from people deemed by a court to be mentally ill or who present a violent threat to themselves or others.
“We are grateful that this avenue is available to us now; it will help OPD — and all law enforcement agencies — further protect the communities we serve,” OPD Chief John Mina said in a statement.
Kendra Parris, an attorney for the Velasquez family, called the young man’s treatment by police “shameful.”
“Officer [Jeffrey] Panter took a handful of online comments — none of which was an actual threat — from a forum in which people are known to troll and act like ‘edgelords,’ ” she said, and added that the UCF police interrogation was “coercive.”
Parris underscored that the only gun police are holding belonged to Velasquez’s father.
UCF Police Department spokeswoman Courtney Gilmartin said in a statement that UCF police acted appropriately and Velasquez was not misled. “We should all sleep easier at night knowing that a firearm was removed from his household and that he is barred from purchasing any others.”
Velasquez, who is still enrolled in classes, was not criminally charged. He has been “trespassed” from campus and his conduct is being reviewed by the university, she said.
The petition for a risk protection order, which was obtained by the Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday, shows that Velasquez published a comment on Reddit on Feb. 10 under the group thread “You guys are too weak to be a school shooter,” saying, “Maybe for now but not forever.”
UCF police got involved after receiving several calls from students reporting Velasquez’s post, made under the username “The Real UCF Chris.” He also praised Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, commenting in a Reddit thread about Paddock’s autopsy, “R.I.P. my hero.”
In a later comment under a thread about the Parkland shooting, Velasquez wrote, “Cruz is a hero!,” an apparent reference to accused gunman Nikolas Cruz, the petition shows.
Once UCF police linked the posts to Velasquez, they interviewed him March 5. The injunction paperwork shows he admitted to writing the posts and said he had “had thoughts and urges to commit a mass shooting since his sophomore year of high school in 2014.”
But, police said, Velasquez admitted he “did not have the courage to go through with it, yet.”
Police said he told them that if he were to commit a mass shooting, he would target Odyssey Middle School and Lake Nona High School, because of his experience being bullied as a former student, and would use an “AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle to commit those shootings.”
He told police he hadn’t prepared for a mass shooting and it had “always just been a thought” in his head.
After the interview that same day, he was admitted to a mental health center under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows the involuntary commitment of those found to be a threat to themselves or others, because of his “homicidal ideation,” police said.
Orlando police, along with UCF police and an FBI special agent, went to Velasquez’s home, where the father voluntarily turned over his firearm, a Taurus “UltraLite” revolver, which records show Velasquez had learned to shoot on his 19th birthday.
“Due to the respondent’s admissions of detailed homicidal ideation, your petitioner is gravely concerned that a real or perceived life event could unpredictably cause your respondent to obtain a firearm and commit a mass shooting,” Orlando police Sgt. Matthew Ochiuzzo wrote in the petition.
Lorena Hitchcock, a spokeswoman with Orange County Public Schools, said parents at both Lake Nona High School and Odyssey Middle School were made aware of the threat last week and the district would be ramping up the security presence at both campuses.
The risk protection order against Velasquez, which required him to turn over any guns in his possession and prohibits him from obtaining any others, is temporary. A hearing is scheduled for later this month in Orange County circuit court.
Parris said police are “dragging an innocent student with zero history of violence or mental health issues through the mud.”
In the court order, police said Velasquez had seen a therapist before, but no longer was. He said he had been diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder before, but it “lasted until he was in third grade.”
Velasquez has since been released from the behavioral center, Parris said.
“If an individual is released from a Baker Act examination, he has, by definition, been determined by the doctor not to be a danger to himself or others,” she said.
bpadro@orlandosentinel.com or 407-232-0202 or follow me on Twitter @BiancaJoanie
