Police arrest California veteran accused of plotting 'Las Vegas style' mass shooting



A 37-year-old California man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of planning to commit a "Las Vegas style" mass shooting, police said.

The Chico Police Department said that Dallas Marsh was taken into custody after detectives obtained evidence that he was making criminal threats to kill specific individuals, law enforcement officers, and others in a mass shooting. Police said that Marsh had a "specified deadline" to carry out this alleged shooting plot.

A SWAT team located and arrested Marsh near the Super 8 Motel in Chico on Sunday morning, according to a police statement. Following his arrest, Marsh allegedly made threats to kill additional officers and their families and battered an officer with a table during an interview while in custody.

Marsh has been charged with making criminal threats of death/great bodily injury, as well as battery on a peace officer and threats of violence against peace officers.

Authorities did not say when Marsh intended to carry out this alleged mass shooting, but Oct. 1 will be the fifth anniversary of the Las Vegas massacre. The Las Vegas shooting was the deadliest mass shooting event committed by an individual in United States history.

An FBI investigation failed to determine the motivations of the Las Vegas shooter, who set up a sniper nest on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, from which he opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest musical festival on the Vegas Strip. The gunman shot and killed 60 people and injured more than 500 others before dying by self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police did not identify a motive behind Marsh's alleged shooting plot. The New York Post reports that photos on a Facebook account appearing to belong to Marsh indicate he is an Army veteran. In his "intro" section, Marsh wrote that he previously served as a U.S. Army Delta Force commander.

Some people have begun leaving nasty comments on the account calling Marsh a "terrorist" and wishing him dead. One user who said he "served in Iraq with Marsh" called him a "really good dude" and the "kinda person you could count on" in rebuke of those leaving negative comments.

"This is not who Marsh is none of you know what’s going on and quick to name call and judge at the end of the day hopefully he gets the help he needs to be the real person he is. Combat related PTSD and the failed mental health care this country provided veterans is a big problem," the user wrote.

"Until you all go through war then battle demons from those events by yourselves maybe take a look at what drove a person to fall this hard," he wrote.

Mom, Iraq war vet takes action when would-be carjacker approaches. She points a gun in his face and says, 'It's locked and loaded.'



A Louisiana mother and 15-year Air Force veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan jumped into action recently when a would-be burglar attempted to steal her car.

What happened?

Taylor was on her way to pick up her husband in New Orleans on Friday, Feb. 11, when she and her 2-year-old son got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 10, according to WDSU-TV.

A group of people in a truck motioned for her to let them into her lane. The next thing she knew she was being confronted by one of the men in the group who had run up to her passenger door and begun tugging on the handle.

"So, as he comes up he's close and he's pretty aggressive trying to get the car door open. [And as he] makes eye contact with me, he's still trying to get it open a couple of times," Taylor said.

That's when the veteran's training kicked in. She pulled out her gun and pointed it directly at him.

"It’s locked and loaded," she recalled saying.

Taylor didn't fire but said she was ready to if the situation required it. Faced with his target's resolve, the would-be carjacker cut tail and ran.

'It’s locked and loaded': Mother, Iraq veteran pulls gun on man trying to get into car www.youtube.com

What else?

"You shouldn't have to navigate your own city like a war zone. It's un-American," Charise Taylor remarked to WDSU after the harrowing experience.

"The crime is out of control and it's terrifying. At this point, having to use the same tactics in an American city that you use in Iraq and Afghanistan simply to navigate through the city, it's scary, and I'm not the only mom feeling this way," she added.

Taylor filed a police report but said she was incensed when she learned the New Orleans Police Department listed the incident as only a "disturbance."

In a statement, the department said, "The NOPD is actively investigating a disturbance that occurred on Interstate 10 West at the Canal Street exit on February 11, 2022, at about 5:20 p.m. The incident classification is based on the available information regarding the incident at the time the report was written. We do not have any additional information to provide this time."

As of Tuesday morning, no arrests had been made in the case.

Taylor said she is urging others to drive with their doors locked and their windows rolled up. She hopes no one else has to go through the same experience that she endured, but she credits her military training for helping her act quickly in the time of crisis.

"The emotions honestly your body takes in a different form I stayed in my body of course but everything transformed I'm trained to do this I've gone to classes I'm prior military if I have to pull this trigger that's what I have to do," she said.