An Oklahoma man who was found to have made death threats to Muslims following the November 13 Paris attacks, and pointed a loaded gun at law enforcement officers, admitted that he committed the acts so that his family could collect and benefit from his life insurance, according to court records.
Mark James Riedel of Norman, Oklahoma told a 911 dispatcher during a November 15 call that he was dealing with severe mental illness and he was “gonna go out there and just start shootin’ anything that looks like a Muslim after what they did to France.”
He then hung up and called again about 15 minutes later. Before his second call, local police were moving in to apprehend Riedel at his residence after his threats.
During the second call, Riedel told the dispatcher that he will start shooting at cars as he was being ignored, after which he hung up again and walked out of his residence with a loaded handgun. Through the intervention of police officers, he was prevented from shooting vehicles passing by his home.
“Mark Riedel ignored numerous commands to drop his gun and eventually raised his gun, pointing it in the direction of three Norman police officers,” Det. Phil Taylor said in the affidavit.
Subsequently, Riedel told police he had consumed liquor that day.
