A Bronx woman is facing federal charges of up to five years in prison after making threats to “shoot up” the New Rochelle Buffalo Wild Wings she worked at.
Jayleen Mota, 21, was charged with making threatening interstate communications after she texted two individuals, threatening to commit a mass shooting at the popular sports bar and restaurant on Saturday, April 15.
Mota was recently hired at the restaurant in the city of New Rochelle, and had called out sick last Saturday, the day she sent the threatening texts.
That same day, New Rochelle police received a phone call from an individual who received text messages from an unknown phone number, threatening to “shoot up” the restaurant. The text stated it would be a “massacre” and “lots of people are going down.” The following message said, “[t]odays a busy night because of the game DON’T TAKE ME AS A JOKE lots of people will die DON’T CALL THE STORE AND RUIN MY PLANS I’m gonna make the news.”
New Rochelle police later received a second call from another individual, who reported an identical message from an unknown phone number, threatening a “massacre.”
Neither individual who received the texts claimed to have a connection to Mota or the restaurant. The first caller was from the Albany area, and had no ties to New Rochelle. The second caller was from the Dallas, Texas area and lived in New Rochelle around 15 years ago, but did not know Mota.
Police were able to trace the phone number leading them to the suspect. That evening, New Rochelle police accompanied by the FBI searched her apartment in the Bronx, finding the phone the threatening messages were sent from.
Mota admitted to having sent the messages threatening the mass shooting. She is facing charges of making threatening interstate communications, a federal offense which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“Communicating threats like those we allege she made can waste valuable law enforcement resources and cause unnecessary alarm in our communities,” said Michael Driscoll, FBI assistant director in charge of the New York Field office. Today’s charges should serve as a reminder for all that the FBI takes these types of threats seriously, and there will be consequences for those who make them.”
This year, the country has experienced a record pace of mass shootings, with AP news reporting 17 mass shootings over the first 111 days.
When reached by phone on Friday, Buffalo Wild Wings declined to comment.
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