Long Island Man Threatened to Open Fire at Jewish Summer Camp

Police on Long Island have said that a man in the hamlet of Inwood has been arrested and accused of making a terroristic threat toward a Jewish summer camp. The man, 58-year-old Nicola Pelle, was found to be in possession of several guns, News 12 Long Island reported.

According to a police statement, Pelle made a call to the local police claiming that about 500 students at the yeshiva camp were not following proper Covid-19 guidelines by not wearing masks. As officers were on their way to investigate the call, Pelle called the police a second time and threatened to use a gun to shoot the children at the camp if police did not arrive.

Nassau County’s Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Pelle told the police in the call that, “If I’ve got to go out there with a friggin’ machine gun and shoot all these people, I will.”  Pelle identified himself as the caller who made the threat during the police investigation and he was subsequently arrested.

After his arrest, police found a valid Nassau County pistol permit, five guns including two assault weapons, in Pelle’s possession. Commissioner Ryder stated that one of the guns was illegal under New York State law. All of the weapons were seized by police as evidence.

Pelle was arraigned on multiple charges including making a terroristic threat, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and two counts of criminal possession of a firearm. His bail was set at $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash.

Within an hour of returning home from jail after making bail, Pelle was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Neighbors and friends of Pelle stated to News 12 Long Island that he had recently undergone lung surgery due to lung cancer. One neighbor blamed Pelle’s actions on medication and noted that as a result of his recent surgery, he has been taking oxycodone, which has made him “not himself.”

Pelle’s threats were made against the summer camp associated with Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island, located in Inwood – part of the “Five Towns” area on southern Long Island which has a large Jewish population.

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