ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The federal government says a former airman at Cannon Air Force Base has talked about carrying out mass shootings, law enforcement assassinations, and attacks on the military. Tuesday, he was arrested.
The FBI arrested Michael Weber at his sister’s house in Alamogordo. The bureau has been investigating him since early 2017.
According to a federal search warrant obtained by KRQE News 13, earlier this year Weber was suspected of phishing for other Department of Defense workers’ personal information, then selling it over the internet.
“When it is related to sort of stealing other people’s information without authorization, that’s a pretty serious offense. It’s a federal crime. Somebody like me who did that would get in a lot of trouble for something like that,” said Ben Mixon Baca, a computer security researcher.
Weber has not been charged with that crime, but he’s now been charged with computer fraud.
Investigators believe he put a spam bot virus on his former sergeant’s military phone in January, to cause damage to a protected military computer.
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In a federal motion to detain, investigators say Weber has access to guns and has made numerous threats.
The motion states Weber discussed shooting up a military dining facility, going on a killing spree at a barn party, and that his urge to kill mass amounts of people was growing.
He believed the FBI was listening in on his conversations and told friends that he would kill the agent listening to him.
It’s unclear if Weber is being investigated for the shooting threats.
He’ll be held until a hearing Wednesday morning to determine if he should stay behind bars until trial.