Police in Long Beach, California, have arrested a man they believed was planning a mass shooting at a hotel and had the “plans, intent, and means” to pull it off.
Rodolfo Montoya, 37, was arrested at his home in Huntington Beach on Tuesday. Police searched his house and found multiple firearms, including an assault weapon, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Police said Montoya worked as a cook at the Marriott hotel he intended to attack by shooting everyone in the workplace, employees and guests alike. According to the Marriott website, the hotel has two restaurants, an international patio grill, and a Tex-Mex restaurant featuring a margarita bar.
It is believed that Montoya was angry with recent workplace activity relating to human resources. His alleged plans were thwarted after he told a coworker about his frustrations and detailed a plot where he would kill people as they entered the hotel. He also allegedly described the tools he would use to carry out the massacre.
“Suspect Montoya had clear plans, intent and the means to carry out an act of violence that may have resulted in a mass casualty incident,” Long Beach Police Department Chief Robert Luna said.
Luna said the employee’s tip to authorities potentially saved many lives and encouraged people to report suspicious activity.
“We’ve seen countless of acts of senseless violence throughout the country in the last several months,” he said. “We want to remind everyone that if you see, hear or read about any threats or suspicious activity, I believe that it is your obligation to report that to the police.”
Montoya has no known criminal record, although some of the weapons and the high-capacity magazines are illegal to possess under California law. He was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing and distributing assault weapons, possession of an assault weapon, and making criminal threats.
#UPDATE Montoya was a cook at the Terrace Grill inside the #LongBeachMarriott Police say he was upset about some recent workplace activity with HR and spoke to a fellow employee about his anger towards others. He gave a description of what he was going to do using these weapons pic.twitter.com/aGaPnvKf1M
— Josh Haskell (@abc7JoshHaskell) August 21, 2019
