4/15/2010 1:27:00 AM Man accused of Facebook threat against day cares, nursing homes
Scott Rains & Malinda Rust
An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for a 28-year-old Lawton man accused of using his Facebook page to threaten violence against Lawton nursing homes and day cares.
The Comanche County District Attorney's Office filed for the warrant, charging Joshua Chaston with with one misdemeanor count of threatening to perform an act of violence. If convicted, he could face up to six months in jail.
Lawton Police Capt. Craig Ackard said the department was contacted Tuesday afternoon by an Arkansas law enforcement agency in regard to Chaston's threats. The threats did not specify any particular nursing home or day care center, he said.
According to the affidavit filed by Det. Ken Parsons, Chaston posted the following online threat: "thinking about shooting up an old folks home ... could call it youthenasia ....lol someone has to put them out of their misery."
He then added another comment to the post: "...well thought about doing a drive-by at a daycare, but that didn't sound as cool .... lol"
Once the threat was received and information gained from Chaston's Facebook page where the threats originated, LPD was joined by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Comanche County Sheriff's Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Lawton Public Schools Police to investigate the threats and locate Chaston for questioning, Ackard said. Four or five local locations were besieged by officers in search of the suspect, he said.
