Man used own email to make SXSW bomb threat, police say,
Former quarterback at Bowie High could face up to 10 years in prison.
A 26-year-old man accused of threatening to bomb the Roots show during South by Southwest last weekend told a producer via email that he would “watch everyone die,” according to court documents.
Trevor Weldon Ingram, a former quarterback for Bowie High School, faces a charge of a making a terroristic threat, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
An arrest affidavit made public Monday said the producer called police after receiving two emails from a gmail account belonging to “t9ingram” just after 3 p.m. Saturday.
The first email said “F*** u I’m gonna pant a bomb and watch
everyone die,” misspelling “plant.”
The second email said only “BOMB,” the affidavit said.
Austin police sent their bomb squad out to the Fair Market venue, where the concert was scheduled, and used bomb-sniffing dogs to sweep the area. Neither Austin police dogs nor Travis County sheriff ’s office dogs found any sign of an explosive device.
Still, promoters canceled the event, saying it was done out of an abundance of caution.
The Roots co-founder and drummer Questlove supported the decision to cancel the show in a tweet Saturday.
“No one is (more) Mr ‘show must go on’ than me. But we can’t risk our lives if we are told there was a bomb threat,” he said. “I’m sure we will return to Austin ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for understanding.”
Investigators searched the Texas Department of Public Safety’s driver’s license database and identified Ingram as the suspect.
He was the registered account holder of the gmail account and had already been investigated by Austin police in February for making threats against eBay employees from the same email address, according to the document.
The threats began Feb 16 and included messages such as “I hope you die in a horrible car crash,” “F*** you. You will die slow,” and “I have 10k on everyone’s head in the Austin office,” the affidavit said.
Jeff Ables, head football coach at Bowie High School, told the American-Statesman that he didn’t remember Ingram as a troublemaker at all.
“It doesn’t sound like him at all — I can tell you that,” said Ables, who added that he has had minimal contact with Ingram since he graduated.
“I’m waiting to hear the full story.”
Ingram’s arrest Saturday came as the city was already on edge after a series of deadly package bomb explosions.
On March 2, 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House was killed by a package bomb at his Northeast Austin home. Ten days later, another package bomb killed 17-year-old Draylen Mason and injured his mother.
A second bombing at another home March 12 sent 75-year-old Esperanza Herrera to the hospital with serious injuries.
The day after Ingram’s arrest, a fourth bomb — this time detonating in Southwest Austin — injured two men.
“We do not believe (Ingram) is involved in the string of package bombs,” Manley told the American-Statesman on Sunday. “We looked into him, and we are not thinking he is involved in this.”