UTAH COUNTY -- A Utah county man has been arrested for making terroristic threats toward members of the Provo Police Department, and the man’s threats involving explosives and guns appear to be in response to a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred February 15.
The suspect in the case is 27-year-old Michael Angus, and he was friends with Cody Evans. Evans was shot and killed by Provo police last Sunday after he brandished an Airsoft BB gun that looked like an AR-15 style rifle and refused to comply with orders from officers. Evans had also fled from police and made threatening statements, click here for details on that incident.
Police said Angus, 27, of Orem made comments on Facebook indicating he wanted to kill members of Provo PD in retaliation for the death of Evans. The threats reportedly began just hours after Evans’ death, but police did not catch up with and arrest Angus until Friday.
"It did have an adverse affect on our employees: changed their habits, where they parked their cars, things they did this week, so I know there is a lot of relief of him being captured," said Lt. Jerid Barney of the Provo Police Department.
On his Facebook page Angus wrote various threats, which have been reproduced below:
"I ain’t letting this [expletive] slide. Any one down to ride w me lemme know. PPD WILL DIE."
"[expletive] provo pd. Yall gonna hate it soon. RIP Cody. I love you homie. They'll pay for this [expletive]."
"to provo pd. Beware of c4 and dat 50cal [expletive]. I'm fed up yall killin my homies, im killin u!"
"ima kill all u provo cops. U [expletive] up. See u in hell soon [expletive]."
"Anyone whos down to ride on these pigs lemme know asap. If not ill do it alone."
Barney said the mention of C4, a powerful explosive, was of particular concern.
“It’s obviously a tool that could cause massive casualties or a lot of damage, so it has caused concern for our officers,” he said. “It’s a type of device that can be attached to a vehicle or to a station house and cause a lot of damage, so that’s the real concern is the potential for the violence with it.”
Angus and three other people he had been communicating with were taken into custody in connection with the threats. Police later determined the other three had not made any threats toward police, but those individuals were arrested for unrelated crimes.
Angus has been charged with making terroristic threats, which is a second-degree felony. He was booked into jail and his bail has been set at $25,000.
Police said Angus told them that he was upset and never intended to carry out the threats.
"You're free to speak and you're free to make comments and share your opinions and we all respect that, but when they are direct threats and they're pointed threats--for example, this case, they are talking about using C4 and a 50 caliber gun against law enforcement, in particular saying, 'I am going to kill a Provo Officer,'--then it's a viable threat to us," Barney said.
