A Tigard man has been charged for threatening a mass shooting at a Sherwood elementary school. Brayden Riess, 26, is now facing charges from state and federal prosecutors after he made threats online to shoot children at a Sherwood elementary school. This came after the most recent mass shooting in Texas. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced charges last Friday.
The U.S. Attorney and the Washington County DA’s office said that Riess sent multiple threats online to a federal agency last month. His communication included threatening to shoot children at Middleton Elementary School before killing himself. He was arrested the following day. If convicted, Riess faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, three years’ supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Riess admitted to sending the threatening messages. He also admitted to owning a gun but said his parents had taken it away from him several years ago. He made these disclosures before he was arrested. His first court appearance on the federal charge was Friday where he pleaded not guilty.
Riess was indicted by a federal grand jury for the federal crime of interstate communication of a threat. In May, he was also arraigned in Washington County on six counts of disorderly conduct.
The Washington County DA said State law does not provide adequate means to address the threats of mass violence to public places. They referred the case to the U.S. Attorney for additional federal prosecution. Riess is being held at the Washington County jail until his trial which is scheduled to begin on August 16. Parents of students at the elementary school were notified of the threats and arrest, officials said.
