Nathan Joseph Bonacci, Interfering with a Federal Officer, Nebraska 2023

A chilling threat sent shockwaves through Council Bluffs, Iowa, as 21-year-old Nathan Joseph Bonacci of Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, made a disturbing statement on the Discord app on February 10, 2022.

Bonacci posted a menacing message, stating, ‘I have an rpk chambered in 7.62 a 556 Ak74 and 2m1911s. This Monday 2/14/22 I will drive my car (filled with 5k worth of amo) to Roosevelt Elementary School in Council Bluffs, IA (517 N 17th Street, Council Bluffs, IA 51501) and I will kill as many people as I can find at 09:00 (9 am) @ everyone I will drive my blue Nissan Ultima (plate number [redacted] (nebraska plates)).’

The threat was discovered by a user on the iFunny app, who forwarded it to the principal of Roosevelt Elementary School. The principal then advised law enforcement, and the FBI assigned a Special Agent to investigate the potential threat.

The FBI investigation included obtaining emergency disclosures from Yahoo! and Twitter, which led to identifying the IP address used to post the threat. This IP address was maintained by Cox Communications, and further investigation revealed that the Cox Communications subscriber was Bonacci’s brother. The FBI Special Agent interviewed Bonacci’s brother, who recognized the username used to post the threat as Bonacci’s.

Bonacci was subsequently located and interviewed. He acknowledged transmitting the communication but claimed he posted it to a group of his friends because he thought they would find it funny.

Bonacci’s false threat impeded the assigned Special Agent from accomplishing his other assigned duties and interfered with his ability to work on legitimate investigations due to a need to determine if this was a valid threat to an elementary school.

On November 29, 2023, United States Magistrate Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Bonacci to 6 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Bonacci’s release from prison, he will begin a 1-year term of supervised release.

Related Federal Cases