Man who livestreamed shooting threat found with gun at mall, California cops say

A livestream of someone talking about “shooting up” a mall prompted the arrest Wednesday of an armed man at a California mall, San Jose police say.

Hunter Tital, 21, of Seaside had a pistol and an assault rifle when police arrested him at Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara, a police Twitter post says. He faces charges including criminal threats.

Someone had notified Santa Cruz County sheriff’s officials of a man talking about “shooting up” a mall on a Snapchat livestream, KPIX reported.

After being notified of the livestream at 4 p.m., San Jose police identified the target as Westfield Valley Fair mall, the Salinas Californian reported.

Officers searched the mall, aided by the livestreamer’s “loud hair color,” before arresting Tital 45 minutes later on the second floor near Nordstrom, KPIX reported.

A police photo of Tital posted to Twitter shows his bright purple hair. Officers are investigating his motive, the Twitter post says.

“Some heroic actions by the officers who responded, they knew the dangers,” police wrote on Twitter. “A tragedy was prevented last night.”

Tital’s bail has been set at $200,000, the Salinas Californian reported. He has a court hearing scheduled for Friday.

This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Man who livestreamed shooting threat found with gun at mall, California cops say."