St. Louis man who threatened to 'kill every gay person' at Pride festival found to be a sex offender with long criminal record
A man who threatened to commit a mass shooting at the Pride festival in St. Louis was later found to be a registered sex offender with a long criminal history.
49-year-old Edward Terry was arrested Tuesday and charged with making a terrorist threat after he allegedly sent an email to Pride organizers saying he would "come to pride fest with guns to kill every gay person I can before I kill myself," River Front Times reports.
The former sexual predator's last known address was in Overland. However, police said he was recently kicked out of the apartment.
Court records state he later admitted to sending the email threat via an account he created in the name of a woman he used to live with.
The frightening message was reported to the FBI and law enforcement authorities successfully traced the fake account to Terry.
Police revealed he had used his cellphone number to create the same.
According to Missouri's state records, Terry was found on the sex offender registry for aggravated sexual assault on a 43-year-old woman in 1995 in Springfield, Illinois. In the past six years, he has been arrested several times.
He pleaded guilty to visiting a University City park with a playground back in 2013—thereby violating his sex offender restrictions.
Two years later in 2015, he was apprehended by St. Louis authorities for stealing a used Oldsmobile from a car dealership next to Tower Grove Park. The same year, he was arrested for stealing collectible coins worth more than $2,100 in Jefferson County.
Terry underwent psychological evaluation while he was being held in prison on those two cases, and was deemed mentally fit to stand trial.
During his incarceration, he wrote a letter to the judge urging for protection after he had been allegedly sexually assaulted and severely beaten by another inmate.
While Terry was sentenced to seven years in prison for the 2015 cases, he was soon released back into the streets.
In February this year, he was accused of stealing almost $1,000 from a Creve Coeur daycare where he worked as a janitor. However, that case is still pending trial.
The repeat offender is currently remanded in custody at the St. Louis County jail on a $20,000 cash bond.