Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023 | 4:29 p.m.
A Las Vegas man was arrested this week after he made a shooting threat over the phone at a local synagogue, according to a Metro Police report.
Michael Sanchez, who indicated to police that he was a U.S. Army veteran who had been deployed to Iraq twice, was booked Sunday into the Clark County Detention Center on one count of making threats or conveying false information concerning acts of terrorism.
Officers initially responded about 1 p.m. Sunday to Chabad of Southern Nevada, where a rabbi had received a call from Sanchez and reported it to the FBI. Sanchez allegedly called a landline and identified himself before making threats to the rabbi and the synagogue, calling its patrons child molesters and killers, and suggesting “they do not deserve to live,” the report said.
Sanchez, 37, then allegedly threatened to shoot up the synagogue, referencing a shooting at another synagogue in California.
The rabbi told police that the call scared him, and the synagogue altered its security to address a possible threat. He added that another employee had fielded calls at the synagogue from Sanchez over the last five days, in which he called Jewish people pedophiles and said “they were enslaving everyone,” but made no specific threat.
Officers made contact with Sanchez at his residence, and he allegedly told them that he knew “they were there because the ‘Jews’ sent them,” the report said. Sanchez admitted to the call and his threat to shoot up the synagogue, saying he believed that Jewish people and the police were out to get him, but said he did not possess weapons to actually commit the shooting.
Sanchez displayed signs of paranoia, and “became agitated” and declined to provide contact information for his family when police asked for it, the report said. He told police his family would “tell them lies” about him and refused to provide any further information.
Sanchez, whose bail has been set at $20,000, is slated to appear in court Wednesday morning, according to county jail records.
