Charges say man threatened to shoot everyone at Magna youth football practice

MAGNA, Utah — Unified Police say a man threatened to get a gun and shoot kids after a public domestic dispute by playing fields. 

Witnesses told KSL TV that a man and woman were arguing very loudly near a Cyprus youth football team practice on Monday.

“A lady was here by the tree and said, ‘Sir, can you please help me,” said a coach who gave his name as Russ. “I looked at her, she was crying, shaking. A guy was in her face, so I yelled at him, ‘Get away from her, leave the park.'”

There were around two dozen players, coaches, and parents at Magna Copper Park at the time.

Russ said the man wouldn’t leave, and other coaches stepped in for backup. But the man became angrier.

“He says, ‘I’ll be back. And when I come back, I’m gonna shoot you and every one of these kids.'”

They called 911. Unified Police say they tracked down and arrested Joshua Scott Howard, age 38, of Sunset, Utah.

He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of making a terroristic threat.

“The suspect threatened that he was going to get his gun, come back and shoot the coach and the kids. Because of the threat the coach suspended practice and sent the students home,” says the police booking affidavit.

The charges Howard faces are felony charges, which could mean up to five years in prison if he’s convicted.

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