Holly MatkinTexarkana, TX – A would-be assassin’s plan to murder random law enforcement officers was thwarted after concerned citizens alerted police that the man was discussing his plot in a Facebook Live video.
The suspect, later identified as 36-year-old Aaron Swenson, was driving around the city hunting for police officers as he recorded the footage, TXK Today reported.
Swenson said he intended to search out an officer who was alone so he could carry out his plan to “ambush and execute” them, according to the Texarkana Gazette.
At one point in the video, the gunman said he had just passed an officer while driving on a service road, but that he would have to spin around in order to get him, TXK Today reported.
Texarkana police received multiple 911 calls about the video beginning at approximately 10:30 p.m. on April 11.
Officers began watching the live feed and were quickly able to determine that the suspect was driving a black, late-model Chevrolet pickup near St. Michael Drive, just west of Interstate 369, TXK Today reported.
Multiple officers responded to the area and spotted the suspect vehicle as it drove into a Sonic parking lot on Kings Highway.
But when police activated their emergency lights, Swenson stomped on the accelerator and sped off towards the town of Redlick, TXK Today reported.
An officer who anticipated his likely escape route was able to deploy a tire-deflating device in the area of Leary Road and Shiloh Road.
The device destroyed one of the suspect’s tires, but he continued to flee from police.
Swenson ultimately brought his truck to a stop on Highway 82 in Hooks, but refused to comply with officers’ commands to exit his vehicle, TXK Today reported.
He blared music from the truck as he sat inside it for nearly a half hour, then ultimately surrendered without further incident.
Swenson was wearing a ballistic vest when he was arrested, and investigators found multiple loaded weapons inside his vehicle.
He has been charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon, evading detection with a vehicle, and terrorist threats against an officer, TXK Today reported.
Swenson had been sharing memes from “boogaloo” pages on social media for months prior to the incident, according to the Daily Mail.
“Well, as I have no real important reason to live a long peaceful(bleh) life…I am eager to be a part of a response,” Swenson wrote in one Facebook post, according to BuzzFeed News. “…anyone in [Northeast Texas] that wants to form up, hit me up!”