CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 21-year-old suspect is behind bars after Corpus Christi Police claim they were planning a mass casualty attack on officers.
Seth "Andrea" Gregori, who identifies as a woman, was arrested the morning of Monday, Feb. 24 after threats were made against the department, according to a Facebook post.
“He could have had time to carry out his attack, we disrupted his plan," CCPD Assistant Chief, Todd Green told Neighborhood News Reporter Alexis Scott.
But it was a plan that Gregori allegedly thought she could accomplish. CCPD told Scott, an officer who works on a joint task force with the FBI, received a tip on Feb. 6 and began an investigation into the various threats. Gregori was admitted to a hospital for mental evaluation for nearly 18 days. CCPD received a warrant for Gregori's arrest and once she was released, officers made contact to take her into custody.
Green told Scott Gregori tried running away from officers, but was later caught on Elizabeth Street near Spohn Shoreline Hospital. When officers caught Gregori, they learned more about her plan.
“Information from the tip was that he wanted to recreate that attack, the one that happened in 2016 in Dallas," Green said. "During that arrest, they found a backpack that had an AR-15 rifle in it, along with two loaded magazines and a box of ammunitions.”
That July 2016 attack Green said Gregori tried to mimic took the lives of five people, injured nine others and wounded two civilians. 25-year-old Army Reserve Afghan War veteran Micah Xavier Johnson was behind the ambush. Law enforcement claimed he was angry over white police shootings of Black men. He shot the officers at the end of a protest against the recent killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Green identified Gregori as homeless and said she was known to officers in the Downtown-area. She allegedly took time studying them in hopes of carrying out the deadly attack.
“He was taking photos on our officers and apparently gathering intelligence on how to plan an attack on them," Gregori added.
Police confirmed Gregori bought the semi-automatic rifle right before she was arrested. Corpus Christi Police Department collaborated with an FBI joint task force on the investigation. Currently, Gregori is charged with terroristic threat impairing public service, but that's only state charges. Federal charges are still pending.
But the question behind it all still remains, 'Why would someone want to do this?' That answer is still unclear.
“You can’t predict the future, but this one had the earmarks of something tragic all over it, if we hadn’t done what we did," Green said.
Gregori is also facing criminal trespassing charges from December 2024, with a $500 bond.
The incident is still under investigation.
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