The FBI arrested a 19-year-old woman in Puerto Rico for threatening the Uvalde community where she used to live.
Victoria Gabriela Rodriguez-Morales has been investigated since 2018 for making online threats directed at Uvalde officials and facilities, according to the arrest affidavit.
That year, she was held in a juvenile detention center. In May 2020, she was released and moved to Puerto Rico with her family.
According to the arrest affidavit, the expressions of hostility continued from a distance via social media and email — mentioning the shooter by name who killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022.
“School shootings are one of the most heinous of violent acts, and those impacted by this tragedy, such as the family, friends and co-workers of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting, deserve to grieve and process their experiences in peace," said Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office. "The subject in this case was hundreds of miles away from the place she intended to torment through threats of violence."
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico detailed some of her comments:
“They will shoot uvalde high school and morales jr high whenever I tell 'em So yeah the persecution is gonna start today”
“Your childrens hospital may blow in pieces If yall dont do as i say”
“there will be bombs at the uvalde memorial hospital”
“We will shoot Uvalde Texas high school and Texas A&M college”
At least one of the threats prompted a school closure.
U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow added that Rodriguez-Morales also threatened Kimberly Mata-Rubio, who lost her daughter Lexi in the shooting and ran for mayor of Uvalde earlier this year.
The FBI arrested Rodriguez-Morales in Puerto Rico last week. She has been charged with 13 counts of interstate threats, with each count carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office has no tolerance for illegal threats, especially threats that target people who are the victims of the horrific mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas,” Muldrow said. “We hope that this arrest brings a sense of peace to those who were targeted by the defendant.”
