California man accused of planning ‘Las Vegas-style’ mass shooting

A man has been arrested in Northern California over an alleged plot to carry out a “Las Vegas-style” mass shooting, officials say, referring to the 2017 attack in which a gunman fired at a music festival from a nearby hotel.

Police in Chico, a small city northeast of San Francisco, said officers recently learned that 37-year-old Dallas Marsh had made threats to kill specific individuals and law enforcement officers, and that he was preparing to commit a ‘Las Vegas style’ mass shooting.

“Detectives with the Chico Police Department’s Violence Suppression Unit (VSU) obtained evidence of Marsh’s intent to commit these acts,” police said in a statement on Monday. As a result, a no-bail felony arrest warrant was issued for Marsh, who was staying at the Super 8 Motel in Chico.

A SWAT team located Marsh near the motel on Sunday morning and took him into custody without incident. After his arrest, however, he threatened to kill officers and their families, and battered an officer with a table during an interview.

Marsh was charged with Criminal Threats of Death/Great Bodily Injury, Battery on a Peace Officer and Threats of Violence against a Peace Officer. He remains in the Butte County Jail.

Other details about the alleged plot were not immediately released.

The attack on the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas in 2017 was the worst shooting in U.S. history: 60 people were killed and nearly 900 others were injured, including 411 people who were shot. The gunman, Stephen Paddock, committed suicide. His motive remains unknown.