After less than an hour of deliberation, an Anchorage federal jury came back with the verdict of guilty on all eight counts of Threatening Interstate Communications against Anchorage man 28-year-old Tyler Chance Bateman on Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department revealed on Thur4sday.

Bateman, in early February, had left Alaska and headed to New York City. He had bought a one-way ticket and had dreams of making a living in the big city. But, by February 26th, he had texted his parents, and a former employee and explained how his plans had fallen through and asked for a ticket back to Alaska.

No one replied back with an offer to buy him a ticket. The lack of desired response enraged Bateman and he began sending a series of texts “threatening to shoot, poison, and cut the victims,” and in one message threatened mass shootings.

The same day, Bateman accessed social media and threatened “to shoot and poison an Anchorage police officer and several other people,” U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder said in a press release. Bateman went as far as leaving threatening messages on that officer’s social media account.

Bateman’s rage continued to escalate and he left messages on the Anchorage Police Department’s Facebook page, saying, “I am going to walk into a building with an AR15. I am going to hurt a lot of people.” Within minutes, he also left another message with the  Chief of Police’s home address.

On the morning of March 2, 2018, FBI agents made contact and arrested Bateman and shipped him back to Anchorage to face charges of making threatening statements against Anchorage police and an Anchorage business.

“Even in the modern digital world, all Alaskans deserve to live their lives safely and securely, without being the victims of frightening — and seemingly anonymous — threats,” said U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder. “What this case clearly illustrates is that those threats do not remain anonymous. Our law enforcement partners will find the perpetrators, and we will prosecute them.”

Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Anchorage Field Office, Jeffery Peterson stated, “It may have taken Mr. Bateman just a few minutes to write his threats, but now he’s facing a lifetime of consequences, this case is a stark example of how the FBI and our partners respond to threats seriously. It also illustrates the anonymity of the keyboard will not prevent law enforcement from finding a perpetrator and bringing that person to justice.”

Bateman’s sentencing is scheduled for February 4th, 2019. At sentencing, he faces a prison term of up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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