On Saturday, Feb. 11, a local Maverik employee was apprehended regarding threats of violence that he had allegedly made to his coworkers.
Helper City Officer Chris Shaw was dispatched to the new Maverik in Helper, located on Highway 6, in regard to an employee that had reportedly threatened to shoot his fellow employees as well as customers.
The store director informed Price Dispatch that Jared Nielsen, age 28, had informed two of his coworkers that he was going to sit on the back of the hill that is located behind the new convenience store and shoot. The director explained that one of the employees mentioned the issue to her, which she took seriously when a second employee called and corroborated the story.
Though both Officer Shaw and the store director attempted to access the video surveillance system, they were unsuccessful, as the corporate office has an email procedure to collect both video and audio surveillance from the stores.
Officer Shaw also spoke with the two employees that reported the alleged threat. An employee explained to the officer that during a shift changeover on Feb. 9, Nielsen stated that he was going to “go up the hill and aim down at people through the scope of a rifle and go pop, pop, pop.”
As Nielsen was arriving to Maverik for his shift, he was apprehended by Officer Shaw. Upon making contact with Nielsen’s parents, it was stated that Nielsen’s father was adamant that he return home “the moment he is released from jail.”
Officer Shaw stated that the father had also informed him that Nielsen will have free access to the firearms in the home when he is released from jail.
Nielsen was arrested for the threat of terrorism, which is a third-degree felony, and threats of violence, a class B misdemeanor. It was reported that police are asking the court not to grant bail in the matter as it is believed that Nielsen could pose a threat to the public.