LCSO: Lehigh Acres man threatened to shoot up FedEx facility

Reporter: Justin Kase
Published: Updated:
Joseph Ricardo Devolliere (Credit: LCSO booking photo)

A Lehigh Acres man was arrested late Wednesday after deputies say he threatened a mass shooting at the FedEx facility he was fired from earlier this month.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that Joseph Ricardo Devolliere, 27, faces a charge of intimidation — sending a written threat to conduct a mass shooting. He was being held on $10,000 bond at the Lee County Jail and bonded out of jail Thursday night. He’ll have to wear a GPS monitor once he’s out, a judge said.

Investigators say Devolliere sent texts to employees at the FedEx facility near Southwest Florida International Airport, telling them he intended to carry out a mass shooting. A firearm and ammunition was found inside Devolliere’s vehicle, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.

“This right here could have been, in one second, national news and a mass shooting,” Marceno said.

The sheriff made it clear he and the office take these threats seriously. He said the actions of a coworker likely prevented something terrible from happening in the community. A quick-thinking employee at at the FedeEx facility called 911 immediately.

“What the sheriff said is important,” said Rich Kolko, WINK News Safety and Security Specialist. “Even if you just can’t picture that person doing it, once you see that threat, hear about that threat, or think it’s a possibility, you’ve got to pick up that phone.”

The sheriff said Devolliere has a history of making threats. Devolliere was fired recently from the FedEx facility on Jetport Loop for making inappropriate comments to a minor and using a box cutter to intimidate. Investigators say he also made similar threats in Fort Lauderdale, previously.

Our Safety & Security Specialist said investigators will now look to see if there were red flags in this case.

“Most people don’t go from, you know, zero to carrying out an act of shooting or an act of violence,” Kolko. “Did they have the ability? Did they have the capability? Did they have the desire? How far did these threats actually go? And that’ll all be taken into account by the attorneys to see what charges he potentially could face.”

You can watch the sheriff’s office press conference below or by clicking here.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.