A 38-year-old Alabama man was arrested for allegedly making a series of threats toward a Catholic abbey in Silverado Canyon, and he was carrying body armor, ammunition, brass knuckles and knives in his vehicle, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.
Joshua Michael Richardson was arrested Thursday on suspicion of criminal threats aimed at St. Michael’s Abbey, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff’s officials said Richardson initially sent threatening emails to the church, then visited the facility “and made additional threats.”
A priest at the church reported the threats to the sheriff’s department, and responding deputies quickly located Richardson, according to the agency.
“After searching his vehicle, they found body armor, high-capacity magazines, brass knuckles and knives,” according to a sheriff’s department statement. “He was arrested without further incident and booked into the Orange County Jail.”
The arrest came one day after an assailant opened fire at a Catholic school church in Minneapolis, killing two young students and injuring more than a dozen others.