Lawmakers want more severe punishment for mass shooting threats

The first was when Alexander Song called the University of Maryland saying, "I will be on a shooting rampage tomorrow on campus... Hopefully I kill enough people to make it to national news...Stay away from the mall tomorrow at 1:30." 

 

The second incident was when Anne Arundel County's Neil Prescott was arrested for threatening to shoot up his workplace. 

 

Prescott and Song both faced phone misuse charges. 

 

If Prince George's County States Attorney Angela Alsobrooks gets her way, the charges may be more serious in the future.

 

Maryland is one of seven states where it is not a felony to make a threat of mass violence. 

 

Alsobrooks handled both cases and says her hands were tied when it came time to prosecute.

 

"It was frustrating that all we could charge was phone misuse, it was totally inadequate," said Alsobrooks.  "One death, two deaths, is too many so we want to prevent further possible mass violence or god forbid more fatalities," she said.

 

Delegate Kris Valderrama's bill would cover only threats to five or more people and would also make the person responsible for more.

 

"This required resources from Anne Arundel, Prince George's County, and ATF," said Valderrama.  "This triggered a huge response and so part of this bill requires restitution on the defendants who caused this sort of reaction to repay for the mass resources that we used for these cases," Valderrama said.