Police: Dixon man threatens to ‘shoot up McDonald’s like El Paso’

DIXON, Illinois — A Dixon man is accused of making a terrorist threat after threatening to “shoot up a McDonald’s like El Paso.”

Ray E. Allen, 53, was arrested just after 5:30 p.m. at McDonald’s at 207 North Galena Avenue on Monday, August 5 after saying, “Remember El Paso? What if I brought a gun in here and shot up everyone like El Paso,” according to a court report from the circuit court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Lee County, Illinois.

The comment came two days after dozens of people were shot in a deadly mass shooting at a shopping center in El Paso, Texas.

Allen additionally faces charges of falsely making a terrorist threat and two counts of disorderly conduct.

The difference between making a terrorist threat and falsely making a terrorist threat is the number of people who are impacted.  According to Illinois law, the charge of making a terrorist threat is defined as knowingly making a threat to commit or cause an act of terror with the intent to “intimidate or coerce a significant portion of a civilian population.”   Making a terrorist threat is considered a Class X felony.  Falsely making a terrorist threat is a Class 1 felony.

Allen was taken to Lee County Jail.