Police take firearms from man they say extols mass shootings
Long Beach police last month seized an AR-15 rifle and a handgun while arresting a man they say had the tools and the motivation to carry out a mass shooting, according to court documents.
A Long Beach police detective obtained a gun-violence restraining order against Jaime Alvarez Jr., 29, on June 14, according to the documents. Two days later, police served a search warrant.
The detective was tipped to Alvarez by an FBI agent who, in April, was investigating another man whom Alvarez had exchanged private messages with on Instagram.
Alvarez's messages glorified mass shootings and included threats of violence against Black and Jewish people, the homeless and women, the documents show.
At one point, he said he was too broken for society and “I cannot socialize like a human being anymore,” according to screenshots in a petition for the restraining order. In another private message, he said he wanted to “unironically inflict as much pain onto as many people as possible.”
He called Elliot Rodger, a misogynist who gunned down six people and wounded more than a dozen others near UC Santa Barbara in 2014, a hero, according to a court document.
He also posted a photo of himself with the words, “Chilling new image of suspect behind shooting spree,” at the bottom, according to a screenshot in the petition.
The messages were sent from February to March, and the post was uploaded in late April.
Police made the arrest June 16, saying in a court document he had the means and motivation to carry out a mass shooting at the Pride Parade in early July, though Alvarez never specifically mentioned the event in any of the messages.
“The Long Beach Police Department is especially concerned that Alvarez, 29, may seek to carry out his threats at the upcoming Long Beach Pride Parade,” the detective wrote in the June 16 petition, which included screenshots of messages Alvarez allegedly sent in private group chats on Instagram.
Alvarez did not reply to a message seeking comment for this report. An attorney said to be representing him declined to comment.
In the restraining order documents, police said Alvarez owned both guns legally.
Police took the messages to mean Alvarez was depressed and a threat to the public, according to the documents. The initial temporary gun-violence restraining order was set to expire July 7 but was extended to July 28.
Attorneys representing the city and Alvarez are set to return to court Thursday, when a judge would consider whether to extend the gunviolence restraining order.
Under such an order, a person cannot possess any firearms or ammunition.