At least 3 men accused of making threats during or after watching the new Batman movie have been arrested in separate incidents, underscoring moviegoers’ anxieties and heightened security in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at a Colorado theater showing the film.
Timothy Courtois of Biddeford, Maine
A New England man was arrested after telling authorities that he was on his way to shoot a former employer a day after watching “The Dark Knight Rises,” Maine state police said Monday.
Timothy Courtois of Biddeford, Maine, had been stopped for speeding, and a police search of his car found an AK-47 assault weapon, four handguns, ammunition as well as news clippings about the mass shooting in which former graduate student James Holmes, 24, is accused of opening fire in a theater in a Denver suburb, authorities said.
Courtois told law enforcement he had attended the Batman movie on Saturday, although police have not confirmed whether he actually saw the film.”I guess we’re taking everything at face value,” State Police Lt. Kevin Donovan said. “It’s very scary.”
Police searched Courtois’ home later Sunday and found a machine gun, several other guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition “We don’t know what his true intentions were,” said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. “Based on the arsenal that was confiscated, we brought in our counterparts from the FBI and ATF to assist with the investigation.”
Courtois was charged with speeding and possession of a concealed weapon.
Clark Tabor of Los Angeles
In Southern California, a man at a Sunday afternoon showing of the film was arrested after witnesses said he made threats and alluded to the Aurora shooting when the movie didn’t start.
Clark Tabor allegedly started creating a disturbance during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” at the AMC Norwalk 20 Theatre at about 5:15 p.m., at first by shouting that the movie had not yet started, sheriff’s officials said.
Several witnesses told police the suspect appeared to hold his cellphone in the air and yelled, “Does anyone have a gun?” and “I should go off like in Colorado.”
Tabor was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats – a felony – and is being held on $50,000 bail plus unrelated warrants, police said.
Michael William Borboa, Sierra Visa, AZ
Separately, moviegoers in Sierra Visa, Ariz., panicked when a man who appeared intoxicated was confronted during a showing of the movie. The Cochise County Sheriff’s office said it caused “mass hysteria” and about 50 people fled the theater.
Off-duty Border Patrol agents tackled Michael William Borboa, 27, who had a backpack with him, according to The Arizona Daily Star. Authorities said it contained an empty alcohol container and a half-empty moonshine bottle.
Borboa was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, and threatening and intimidating.
