A St. Paul community college student was charged with a felony Wednesday after threatening to “grab his shotgun” and shoot two women “in the face” when he became frustrated that he couldn’t find the right classroom on the first day of school this week, authorities say.
The threat was referenced in two Facebook posts made by Paul James Moulton on Monday, according to the criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court.
Moulton is charged with one count of making threats of violence.
“I am about to lose my (expletive) on this mother (expletive) school. The classroom on the schedule is NOT where the (expletive) class is!!!,” the first post read.
When a school staff member at St. Paul College who was Facebook friends with him suggested he drop by the advising center for help finding the room, Moulton said his frustration was nearing a violent breaking point, authorities say.
“It’s taking just about everything I have not to grab my shotgun and go shoot two (expletive) in the face … The universe just doesn’t want me to be a gotdamn CNC machinist,” his second post read, according to the complaint.
Moulton was enrolled in St. Paul College’s CNC (Computer Numerical Control) Toolmaking diploma program.
The staff member reported the threatening statement and police arrested Moulton without incident when he returned to the advising center the following day, charges say.
No firearm was on the 40-year-old at the time, but police did reportedly find a folding knife and brass knuckles.
They interviewed two school staff members who had interacted with Moulton the previous day, and both said that while Moulton seemed upset that he couldn’t find his classroom at the time, his frustration level was not out of the norm for students on the first day of school.
It was only after learning about the remarks he made on Facebook that one of the staff members said she became “more disturbed” about the interaction, the complaint said.
Moulton told police his post was “stupid, wasn’t aimed at any person, and … didn’t identify the school,” the complaint said.
He made it after arriving at the school for his first day of class and discovering that the class wasn’t where he had been told it would be. It mounted when he followed advising center staff advice to check the room again and one of them questioned if he had the room number correct
He took the comment as an insult that suggested he couldn’t read, Moulton allegedly told police.
The incident struck his “last (expletive) nerve, Moulton told officers after his arrest, adding that “it’s taking everything he’s got not to snap and ‘go postal,’” the complaint said.
Moulton also told officers that he suffered from PTSD from events in his childhood and that he purchased a shotgun after he and a former roommate “waged psychological warfare against one another,” the complaint said.
Officers found the gun at Moulton’s girlfriend’s home after executing a search warrant there.
No attorney was listed for him in court records. Moulton has no prior criminal convictions.
He will no longer be welcome on St. Paul College campus, according to school officials.