A Florida man threatened to shoot up a supermarket because he was infuriated that “not enough people” had masks on during the coronavirus outbreak, police said.
Robert Kovner, a Brooklyn native who now lives in Sebring, was arrested Tuesday on a felony charge of making a written threat of a mass shooting at an unspecified Publix after making the ominous warning on Facebook, according to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.
“The writer was upset that not enough people, in his opinion, are wearing masks when they are out and about,” sheriff officials said in a statement.
“We realize these are stressful times, but there is no excuse for making threats like this,” the officials continued. “It’s not a joke. It’s not just a bad day. It’s a crime. We will ALWAYS take them seriously and you will go to jail.”
Kovner, 62, threatened Tuesday to “empty every clip I own” on a community Facebook page for Sebring, about 85 miles south of Orlando, according to an arrest report obtained by the Highlands News-Sun.
“Will it take shooting a few of you selfish aholes [sic] in the parking lot to get the message through?” Kovner allegedly posted. “Trust me the virus is not the only thing that may cause your demise!”
An hour later, investigators said Kovner apologized to roughly 3,300 members on the “Sebring Florida” Facebook public forum before claiming he had lost seven and relatives to COVID-19. Kovner said his mother-in-law was also “fighting for her life” at the time of the post, authorities said.
Bond for Kovner, who was also charged with using a two-way communication device to commit a crime, remained at $30,000 Wednesday, the newspaper reports.
He was no longer listed as in custody as of Thursday, online records show. Attempts to reach Kovner were not immediately successful.