Architect of the Capitol

Veteran Charged With Threatening to Open Fire Inside Capitol

Law-enforcement agents took a Maryland man into custody, stating that he made threats to shoot a Hill employee and others.

 A retired Army veteran was arrested and charged with threatening to open fire inside the Capitol building, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

On Monday, Michael Bogoslavski, 33, texted a federal employee working in the U.S. Capitol building of his plan to bring guns to the employee's work, shoot the employee and others, the release states, citing the affidavit supporting the complaint.

The employee called the Capitol Police to report the threats. During the call, Bogoslavski, of Cheverly, Maryland, called the employee's cell phone, making more threats to shoot others and "to die suicide by cop," according to the release.

According to the release, the Capitol Police informed law-enforcement agents of the incident. The Cheverly Police Department responded to Bogoslavski's home, and he was taken into custody. Two loaded handguns and ammunition were found at the home Monday under a search warrant, the release states.

"Local and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the threat quickly and effectively," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein stated in the release. "Their efforts in this case may have prevented a tragic outcome."

Bogoslavski was taken to a hospital and released the next day, when he was arrested and detained in federal custody, according to the release.

Bogoslavski is charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure another person. A detention hearing was held Wednesday, and he will be held in custody as he awaits trial. If found guilty, he faces a maximum of five years in prison—before he can be released for three years of supervision—and a $250,000 fine.

Bogoslavski retired from the U.S. Army in March 2013 after more than nine years of service, which included two tours in Iraq and a tour in Afghanistan.