August 26 (Reuters) – The number of calls from an FBI hotline to prevent mass shootings and other attacks rose 70 percent over the week following the double massacre in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, said Monday federal officials.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released more than 38,000 phone and online tips during the week following the shooting, against 22,000 tips that he usually receives each week.
The rise is proof of an American public made nervous by a steady pace of mass fire.
"Such increases are often seen after major incidents," the FBI said in a statement. "As always, the FBI encourages the public to remain vigilant and immediately report suspicious activity to law enforcement."
FBI officials said that the number of tips received each week by the center varies and that not all can be treated. Some tips turn into FBI investigations while others are passed on to local authorities. The number of tips from the FBI also does not include the thousands of tips received by law enforcement agencies and local authorities since the shooting.
Several people have been arrested and charged in the United States in recent weeks as a result of counseling.
Among them, an employee of a Wisconsin distribution center who called the police after a co-worker threatened to shoot at a workplace and an Alabama resident who alerted Authorities after his friend, a Florida trucker, sent him messages about his plans for a shootout at Memphis Church.
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Militants Present 7,000 Shoes in Gun-related Violence Memorial
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On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer
On March 13, 2018, activists set up 7,000 shoes on the lawn in front of the US Capitol in Washington, United States. The organizers said the facility represents the number of lives lost since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. REUTERS / Eric Thayer TPX THE IMAGES OF THE DAY
HIDE CAPTION
SHOW CAPTION
In Michigan, a person told authorities that a former classmate had threatened to shoot 200 police officers during a phone and text conversation, while a woman in Florida had said to police that his ex-boyfriend had sent him a text message about his plan to kill 100 people during a large-scale shootings, according to the same source. to the police.
"The general public certainly takes them more seriously," said John Mina, sheriff in Orange County Florida and a board member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Mina is no stranger to mass shootings. He was chief of police in Orlando, Florida, on the night of June 12, 2016, when an armed gunman opened fire on the Pulse nightclub, killing 49 dead and 53 wounded.
Mina also said that local law enforcement agencies are increasingly devoting resources to accessing information and threats detected online, even though the person may not want to not really commit the attack.
"The forces of law have always acted accordingly, the difference is that we are talking about it a little more," he said. "Agencies are spreading the message, it's not a joke, we'll stop you."
(Brendan O'Brien's report in Chicago, edited by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker)
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