[ZERO] Police claim a tip from a concerned citizen foiled a planned mass shooting at an evening July 4th celebration at a packed Richmond amphitheater.
Now, 52-year-old Julio Alvardo-Dubon and 38-year-old Rolman A. Balacarcel sit in the Richmond city jail, each initially charged with being a non-U.S. citizen in possession of a firearm. Both are Guatemalans in the United States illegally, and it's been claimed at least one has already been deported multiple times.
| Suggestive. Vicious criminal or straight up gangster? |
Apparently reflecting the fact that he was only charged with illegal possession, Alvardo-Dubon's bond was set at just $15,000, and it isn't clear if he's already been released, according to the Associated Press. There's no report yet of Balacarcel's bond.
| “The Fourth is over, so he won’t be thinking about doing it again until the next major American holiday with parades — Thanksgiving, probably.” |
At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Richmond police chief Gerald Smith credited a "hero" citizen who called police after overhearing a conversation about a planned mass murder at the city's July 4th celebration at Dogwood Dell, a 2,400-seat amphitheater in the city's Byrd Park.
"There's no telling how many lives this citizen saved with one phone call," Smith said. The tip came in on July 1. That same day, police proceeded to a residence on the 1000 block of Columbia Avenue.
Smith said Alvarado-Dubon consented to police entering without a warrant. "Once inside that residence, they saw evidence in plain view that corroborated the witness's statement," said Smith, who later specified that the evidence was "firearms in plain view."
Under advice from the Department of Homeland Security, police arrested Alvarado-Dubon for being an alien in possession of a firearm, and seized two assault rifles, one handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Richmond police then put surveillance on Balacarcel, whom Smith described as Alvardo-Dubon's roommate. On July 5, police concluded they had probable cause to arrest Balacarcel on the same charge, and did so near Charlottesville, Virginia.
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