The Fort Worth Police Department arrested a man on Saturday for allegedly making a threat of violence against the Miller Brewing Company.
Officers responded at around 8 p.m. on July 15 to an investigation call that an adult male had threatened to shoot up his wife and her coworkers at the Miller Brewing Company, according to a press release from the Fort Worth Police Department.
The call to police indicated that the man may have been en route to the business located at 7001 South Fwy., prompting South Patrol officers and the Directed Response Unit to secure the perimeter of the area and enforce a lockdown.
Officer Jimmy Pollozani, a spokesman for the Fort Worth PD, said the department learned about the threat and acted quickly to ensure the safety of all the employees.
“Detectives were able to determine that there were specific and direct threats made towards the individual employee. During that time, there were over 500 employees that were currently working, so, we had a large contingency response,” explained Pollozani, according to NBC 5 DFW.
During the investigation, officers located the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Michael Valdez, at a residence in Arlington.
The Arlington Police Department was contacted once this information was uncovered, and Valdez was taken into custody without any issues.
Fort Worth PD said that the police search of the property allegedly yielded 16 firearms with boxes of ammunition.
Valdez was taken to the Fort Worth city jail and is charged with making a terroristic threat, which is a third-degree felony.
Fort Worth PD also arrested a man on Saturday after he made a threat to shoot up a church during the Sunday service, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
In an attempt to address crime in Fort Worth, the city has implemented a dedicated police unit to patrol its downtown area. This unit has helped contribute to a much lower crime rate than in Downtown Dallas.
Crime in Dallas has remained high frequency, with homicide rates increasing by 23% during the first four months of the year. The City has declared more recent statistics “unreliable” since early May due to a ransomware attack against the servers.
A shortage of officers has also plagued the Dallas Police Department, which currently employs roughly 3,100 officers, much fewer than the estimated 4,000 needed to adequately police the city.
