Man accused of threatening to shoot Florida students arrested near Canadian border

Jesus Kong (Orange County Sheriff's Office)

A man accused of threatening to shoot central Florida students and blow up pipe bombs inside campuses was arrested, authorities said Sunday.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Jesus Kong, 23, was apprehended near the Canadian border, Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jeff Williamson said. Kong “appeared to be in some form of distress,” Williamson said.

Immediate details of his arrest weren’t immediately available. The paper reported that Kong is also known under the aliases Jessie Eloah Calix and Jesus Matute.

Kong is a transient who has a lived in Florida, California, Virginia and Maryland.

He is accused of making the threatening comments on Twitter starting on July 24. The Sentinel reported that his threats targeted William R. Boone High School, Edgewater High School, Colonial High School, Colonial Ninth Grade Center and Liberty Middle School.

One of the messages Kong allegedly posted on social media read, “I want to shoot a few at Liberty Middle School. I dislike homosexuals…,” officials said

The threats kept more than 900 students absent from the Orlando-area schools last week.

The FBI said they were looking into the threats, but didn’t think they were credible.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.