Man arrested for 'finger gun' shooting TikTok video in St. Clair Shores
Man arrested after TikTok video of pretending to do mass shooting
A 20-year-old man thought he was posting a funny TikTok about shooting up a building. It turns out the joke is on him
St. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (FOX 2) - A 20-year-old man thought he was posting a funny TikTok about shooting up a building.
The backstory:
It turns out the joke is on him and now he’s looking at 10 years in prison. The video shows the man holding a finger-gun and pointing it making gunfire sounds.
The FBI found a TikTok video of a 20-year-old Joel Edwards and called the Michigan State Police which then contacted St Clair Shores police.
SCS police had been conducting a cyber threat investigation, which led to an investigation of Edwards. Investigators say at one point they claim he was targeting Masonic Heights Elementary School.
Edwards, however, was already on probation for a separate crime - and is a three-time felon.
He violated his probation and stayed in jail and was formally charged last Friday with using a computer to commit a crime, a four-year felony.
Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido is not happy about it.
"We've done everything," he said. "I sent a notice out to school administrators - let us come in and talk to your children om the class. Those students need to hear firsthand what it is, that is going to drive them to in their mind (which they think) maybe not so much, actually is a crime."
Some weapons were found inside his home. Edwards was arraigned on a $5 million bond.
Inset: Joel Edwards. Large photo, a frame of his video where he made gun sound effects with a finger gun.
The Source: Information for this report came from the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.