NY man threatens to shoot up yeshiva summer camp over social distancing
The complaint was directed at the Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island's children's day camp, to which Pelle lives next to.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFCELEBRATING ISRAEL day at the summer camp of the Greek Jewish community.(photo credit: Courtesy)
Nicola Pelle, 58, of Long Island, New York, threatened to shoot up a Jewish summer camp while making a social distancing complaint to the county health department on Monday, according to ABC News.The complaint was directed at the Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island's children's day camp, which Pelle lives next to."If I gotta go out there with a friggin' machine gun and shoot all these people, I will," Pelle allegedly said on the call, according to ABC News, quoting Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder.In response, the Naussau County Police Department charged Pelle with making a terroristic threat, accompanied by four counts of criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, after Pelle identified himself as the complainant. After obtaining a search warrant, police seized 14 weapons including assault rifles, shotguns and handguns - all were obtained legally."Our officers did an outstanding job by questioning the subject, getting him to admit that he did make that complaint and did make the threat to shoot the school up, and then going in and recovering the weapons," Ryder said, according to ABC News."Last year alone, there were 570 incidents here in Nassau County," Ryder said, according to ABC News - noting the severity in which the department treats these threats.Rabbi Tzvi Krigsman Menahel, the principal of the summer camp, told ABC News New York-affiliate WABC he was "very thankful" for the police's attention."They've been extremely informative, transparent, and we are very thankful to them, and we feel secure and we're confident in the safety of our children and staff," he told WABC.Pelle's neighbors defended him, saying that "he didn't mean it," according to ABC News.
