Brian Schwarztrauber. (Wilmington Police Department)
CAMBRIDGE (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Cambridge man is now facing charges after his roommate overheard him talking about his plans for a shooting spree.
Amanda Greenfield told WBZ NewsRadio she heard the suspect, her roommate Brian Schwarztrauber, making threats over the phone Saturday.
"He was finalizing plans to go on a shooting spree," Greenfield said. "He named his primary gun and his secondary gun. He said that he would have enough ammunition strapped to his back to get himself out of any situation. He said he would shoot through car windows if he had to."
Schwarztrauber allegedly wanted to target high-ranking Democratic figures.
"He did say a lot of terrible things about certain Democratic Senators," Greenfield said. "He did mention Elizabeth Warren, AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi."
Greenfield said she became concerned hearing the threats, called Cambridge Police, and barricaded herself in her apartment.
Later Saturday, Schwarztrauber was arrested by Wilmington Police after allegedly being drunk and acting disruptive at the Northeast Gun Show at Shriners Auditorium.
While officers were speaking to Schwarztrauber, they were contacted by Cambridge Police regarding what Greenfield overheard—and by a gun show employee, who said Schwarztrauber had bought ammunition at the show without a firearms identification card.
Police found 150 rounds of 9mm ammo in Schwarztrauber's car. They arrested the vendor they say sold it to him, Stephen Fowler, 69, of Guilford, Connecticut. Fowler is now banned from selling guns and ammunition in Massachusetts.
Schwarztrauber is charged in Cambridge with illegal possession of ammunition—Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said the charges don't tell the whole story.
"This is a case where the charges we have, at least at this point in the investigation, relative to what happened do not really reflect the seriousness of all of these pieces," Ryan told WBZ NewsRadio.
Ryan said that, although no firearms were found, Schwarztrauber indicated he would soon be in possession of a sniper rifle. Rifle ammunition was found during a search of his house Sunday.
Greenfield said she's concerned about retaliation, but has no regrets about tipping off police.
"If we don't take the situation with grave seriousness, then we don't have the right to be shocked or upset the next time there's a shooting," Greenfield said.
WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) reports