FBI says 21-year-old planned attack on Texas police similar to 2016 Dallas ambush
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Authorities in Texas said they thwarted a "mass casualty attack" after arresting a 21-year-old who allegedly made terroristic threats against local police officers.
The suspect, identified as Seth "Andrea" Gregori, was arrested on a terroristic threats warrant Monday morning, according to the Corpus Christi Police Department. Federal and local authorities accused Gregori of making threats against Corpus Christi police officers.
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified of Gregori making terroristic threats against Corpus Christi Police Department Officers," the Corpus Christi Police Department said in a statement on social media. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the threats and secured an arrest warrant for Gregori."
Gregori had allegedly "planned an attack on police similar to the 2016 Dallas ambush," the FBI's Houston field office said in a statement. In July 2016, 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson shot police officers in Dallas — killing five, injuring nine others, and wounding two civilians.
"We have no idea why (Gregori) made the threat," Corpus Christi police senior officer Jennifer Collier said, adding that the FBI had not given the local department more information about the alleged threats. The FBI is continuing the investigation, she said.
The Nueces County District Attorney's Office will wait until the FBI completes the investigation before proceeding with an indictment against Gregori, according to chief felony prosecutor Mike Gordon.
Gregori is being held at Nueces County Jail on two misdemeanors: terroristic threats impeding public service/causing public fear or serious bodily injury and criminal trespass, the Austin American-Statesman, part of the Paste BN Network, reported. The bond was set at $50,000.
Nueces County records show that Gregori was charged with a misdemeanor for criminal trespassing in December 2024.
Reports: Suspect was in possession of an AR-15 pistol
According to court records obtained by ABC News and television station KENS 5, Gregori allegedly expressed "clear planning, intent and steps taken to ambush and kill police officers in Corpus Christi, Texas."
ABC News and KENS 5 reported that the investigation began earlier this month after a friend of Gregori's informed police that the suspect wanted to kill Corpus Christi officers. An arrest warrant states that Gregori told the friend that they were in possession of an AR-15 platform pistol.
The friend and Gregori exchanged text messages for months that showed "a lengthy history of the offender wishing to carry out a 'Dallas style' attack on police," according to the affidavit. The friend provided police with 71 pages of evidence, allegedly showing Gregori's plan and intent to ambush and kill officers in Corpus Christi, ABC News and KENS 5 reported.
The friend also told police that some text messages included images from the Dallas crime scene and of Johnson, the affidavit states. Other messages Gregori allegedly sent to the friend were images showing the side of an AR receiver and three images that Gregori reportedly took "stalking local police officers," according to the affidavit.
"Yes, I've planned on shooting and killing cops as much as I could like Micah planned it for years," Gregori allegedly said in a message, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit added that Gregori told the friend about being friendly to officers and "fooling them" to earn their trust, KENS 5 reported.
What happened in the 2016 Dallas police attack?
The 2016 Dallas police attack is considered one of the deadliest attacks on law enforcement officers in U.S. history.
A total of five law enforcement officers were killed on July 7, 2016, after a sniper opened fire on police during what had been a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Dallas, Paste BN reported at the time. Nine other officers were wounded and two civilians were injured.
Johnson, an Army veteran, had fired from different levels — some elevated above the street — and was eventually chased into a building parking lot where authorities tried to negotiate with him. After talks broke down, Johnson was killed by police using a robot-controlled explosive device.
An investigation revealed Johnson had been angered by the plight of the Black Lives Matter movement, authorities said.
"He said he was upset about the recent police shootings. He said he was upset at white people. He said he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers," former Dallas Police Chief David Brown said after the attack.
The Dallas incident was part of a rising trend of ambush-style killings of law enforcement in 2016, Paste BN previously reported.
Threats come amid a series of high-profile law enforcement deaths
The alleged threats made against officers in Corpus Christi follow a recent spate of high-profile law enforcement deaths, including a Pennsylvania police officer who was killed in a hospital shooting and two police officers in Virginia who were fatally shot after a traffic stop.
Preliminary data released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund last month showed that the number of law enforcement professionals who died in the line of duty last year increased by 25% compared to 2023. Nationwide, 147 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2024 while 118 officers died in 2023.
"The leading cause of these line-of-duty deaths for police officers in 2024 was gunfire, and the largest increase over 2023 resulted from traffic-related incidents, both underscoring the growing risks faced by law enforcement officers in the line of duty," the organization said in a news release.
The FBI has also noted a surge in the number of law enforcement officers killed and assaulted in recent years.
Contributing: Trevor Hughes, Kevin Johnson and Ryan W. Miller, Paste BN; Alexis Simmerman, Austin American-Statesman