Police in Maryland are trying to connect the person they say they stopped from killing

[RB TexLa]

people to the one in Colorado because they both called themselves jokers? Serously, because they both refered to themselves as jokers they want to say they did what police in Colorado couldn't do or something?

[geckosfeet]

1. Wait. The police acted on what they percieved to be a credible threat -

and you are trying to diminish the work they did? Am I understanding this correctly?

Maryland police may have thwarted shooting

Authorities have taken a man into custody who referred to himself as "a joker" and threatened to shoot people at his former workplace in Prince George's County, investigators said Friday

...

"What we believe was significant threat has been averted," Prince George's Police Chief Mark McGaw said.

Authorities wrote in an affidavit that they believed that Prescott was referencing the movie theater shootings in Colorado when he called himself a joker.

[Electric Monk]

2. Ever hear of copycats?

Much simpler explanation.

[randome]

4. It's unlikely there is a connection but it's worth checking out.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Perhaps you also missed this asshole

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2012/7/24/dark_knight_copycat_.html

Maine man accused of copycat 'Dark Knight' threats

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) --
A Maine man has been accused of making a "copycat" threat after watching the new Batman movie, underscoring moviegoers' anxieties and heightened security in the wake of Friday's deadly mass shooting at a Colorado theater showing the film.

Timothy Courtois of Biddeford, Maine, was arrested when he told authorities that he was on his way to shoot a former employer a day after watching "The Dark Knight Rises," Maine state police said Monday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/timothy-courtois-arrested_n_1697035.html

Timothy Courtois Arrested: Maine State Police Find Arsenal In Speeding Man's Car (VIDEO)

Maine State Police say they discovered a small arsenal and several Aurora shooting news clippings on Sunday when they arrested a man speeding at 112 mph down the Maine Turnpike.

Police said that the weapons stockpile found in 49-year-old Timothy Courtois's car included four handguns, an AK-47 assault weapon, ammunition and articles about the Batman Massacre in Colorado, that left 12 people dead and 51 injured at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises.

Dude was threatening to kill his former boss, who he worked for from 1995-2000 in the insurance business.

If that doesn't make your blood run cold, you don't have a pulse.