Cary man threatened to kill children while living 250 feet from daycare: Federal court documents

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Cary man arrested twice in as many days now faces new charges from federal authorities.

Cary Police Department arrested Kevin Edral Douglas, 46, on Nov. 1 at the Extended Stay America on Weston Parkway on misdemeanor charges of communicating threats.

Federal court documents now accuse Douglas of spending the days before his arrest threatening to shoot children.

On Oct. 30 and 31, investigators said he used the cybertip reporting service on the website for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to submit multiple threatening messages.

The court documents reveals much of the messages are jumbled and incoherent, but in each threatening phrases jump out at the reader. Such as, "I'm going to murder every child in the hotel now," and "I'm going to kill all the children."

In the court documents, investigators pointed out that Bright Horizons at Harrison Park is a daycare center located directly across the street from the Extended Stay America where Douglas was staying when he reportedly made these threats.

The documents then cite possible references to the daycare center, such as "in a ritual-killing I'm going to kill all the...children in the area...there's 45 children near me." Investigators said those references could "reasonably been referring to a physical attack against" Bright Horizons, which was located about 250 feet from Douglas' hotel.

It remains unclear if Douglas had access to weapons at the time he allegedly made the threats.

"Whether an individual happens to have a gun at that particular moment is not a relevant inquiry as to whether they violated federal law in communicating that threat," US Attorney Mike Easley Jr. said. "We know all to unfortunately that it does remain possible for people to obtain firearms and to obtain them relatively quickly."

Federal investigations said Douglas has an extensive history of threatening behavior, which began around 2002 and spans across at least eight states. On Dec. 12, 2016, he pleaded guilty to federal charges that he threatened to kill an employee at the British Embassy in Washington D.C. He was sentenced to 622 days behind bars and 36 months of supervised release. Documents show he then violated the terms of his release with multiple failed drug tests.

"It appears we're in a situation where this individual has gone back to making threats -- and allegations that are in the complaint -- and it's disappointing when you see somebody who is a repeat (offender) in this sort of context," Easley said.

After his first arrest Wednesday, Douglas was released from jail on a $1,000 bond. He was ordered to not use any electronic devices.

Then, less than 24-hours after being released, Cary Police Department arrested Douglas for a second time. District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Douglas was arrested the second time for violating the order to not use electronic devices.

During a press conference at 3 p.m. at Cary Police Department, Police Chief Terry Sult, DA Freeman and US Attorney Easley all stated that this case was a textbook example of how law enforcement and prosecutors should communicate and handle threats effectively.

They said that Douglas was charged initially with what investigators could legally charge him with and held in accordance to the law appropriately. When he was released, local and federal agents were still working on the case and monitoring Douglas' actions.

"When we're in this situation -- we've got an active threat like this -- we are going to use everything in our disposal to get somebody detained, certainly long enough to appropriately assess and address the threat," Freeman said.

Despite being interviewed by federal agents during his first arrest Wednesday, the feds were unable to file felony charges against him until Thursday.

"If it is a case that is appropriate for federal adoption, which takes time to analyze," Easley explained. "We did determine in our consultation that it was appropriate. And as soon as that outreach was made and that determination was made, we then got federal paper on him."

Investigators continued that the case against Douglas is still active and new details are being uncovered.

Anyone who believes they may have information about this investigation is asked to contact Crimestoppers at www.p3tips.com/1242 for anonymous reporting options or call (919) 460-4636.