Federal authorities say that they stopped a truck driver from committing a planned mass shooting at a church in Tennessee.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says that they arrested 38 year old truck driver Thomas Matthew McVicker in Indianapolis, Indiana after learning of his plans to conduct a mass shooting at a church in Memphis.
The FBI says that the arrest came after McVicker made “credible threats to conduct a mass shooting and suicide” on Thursday, August 22.
Authorities say that they were tipped off by a female friend of McVicker living in Fairhope, Alabama, who contacted the FBI to let them know that he had been talking about plans to “shoot a church up” and that he had plans to “take his knife and slit the pastor’s throat” when he was in Memphis on Thursday.
McVicker’s employer confirmed to federal agents that McVicker had requested time off and said that he would be in Memphis during his leave.
The female friend says that McVicker primarily lives out of his semi truck, though he has an address in Punta Gorda, Florida.
McVicker has a history of mental illness and drug abuse, according to family members, so it isn’t clear at this time what charges he could face, The Hill reports. He has no evidence of criminal history aside from a citation for driving a truck in the improper lane in Jefferson County, Alabama, in June 2014.
Police are still working to determine a motive for the planned shooting. The female friend told the FBI that when she asked McVicker why he wanted to shoot innocent people, he said that “they put spiritual snakes and spiders in my bed at night.”