BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) – The man who was arrested in Boulder Tuesday for sending a violent manifesto to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he formerly worked, was stopped from buying a handgun at the Silver Bullet Shooting Range in Wheat Ridge, according to a federal criminal complaint made public Thursday.
According to court paperwork, when Matthew C. Harris tried to buy a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson model “Bodyguard” revolver in November, he reported that he had never been committed to a mental institution. But his mother told authorities he was involuntarily committed to a facility over the summer after doctors told him he had schizophrenia.
A Colorado Bureau of Investigation InstaCheck was conducted during the time of his purchase, and Harris’ request for a gun was denied.
Harris was prevented from possessing a firearm “as a function of an active restraining order, issued in California, dated June 15, 2021,” according to the criminal complaint.
As FOX31 previously reported, the request for the restraining order came after Harris made threats, via email, of killing another professor. His mother shared information from those emails with the professor.
His mother also received an email from him in the spring in which he suggested he might kill himself.
“I’m ready to be dead frankly. But I’m not going to hurt anyone else. Honestly, the soonest I can find a way to shoot myself and get away from this sh– the better. I’m currently looking into the local gun ranges and although I can’t afford it until I get paid at the end of the month, I’m just letting you know that I plan on finishing this as soon as humanly possible … I’m planning to be dead by early April,” the email said.
Boulder Police became involved with Harris after he sent an email to “approximately 35 individuals” from his Yahoo account, “directing them to a Google drive containing an 803-page ‘manifesto’ titled ‘death sentences’ by Dr. Matthew C. Harris,” according to the federal court records.
“He also directs them to his YouTube channel which contains a video called ‘UCLA PHILOSOPHY (MASS SHOOTING)’ which depicts HARRIS talking with images from the 2003 movie Zero Day, which depicts a movie version of the surveillance cameras at the Columbine school shooting,” the records say.
The manifesto, as the Problem Solvers previously reported made more than 10,000 references to the N-word and included approximately seven references to the city of Boulder.
When officers approached Harris’ Boulder address this week, they said Harris was “yelling profanities and appearing to be highly agitated.”
A federal complaint indicates Harris is being accused of committing “threats in interstate commerce,” a charge that could carry up to a 5-year imprisonment penalty. Initial court paperwork indicated the penalty was 20 years, but FOX31 has learned that was filed incorrectly.