Raleigh man obsessed with guns, death, arrested. FBI says he idolized mass shooters
A Raleigh 19-year-old was consumed with mass shooters and threatened to become one himself through alarming messages on social media, according to federal prosecutors.
Raleigh police and the FBI filed an involuntary commitment request for Eric Byrd, detaining him on March 9. He was charged by federal officials with communicating a threat on Thursday.
According to charging documents, Byrd had an obsession with mass shooters and sought to follow in their footsteps. He commonly posted photos of himself holding guns and used pro-Nazi and white supremacist messaging in his content, notably saying, “I love death and destruction. I hope much more comes.”
A court document said that Byrd “utilized Instagram to post Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism, expressing an intent to harm others (Black people, Hispanics, and homosexuals) and himself.”
On Instagram, Byrd used the hashtags #WHITEPOWER and #HH, believed to be an acronym for “Heil Hitler.” He also praised Brenton Tarrant, an Australian man responsible for the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, and Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and injured 14 others in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2014.
On Jan. 19, 2026, Byrd sent text messages to someone that conveyed the intent to “be a complete menace and danger to society.”
Read more: WRAL