SAVAGE, Minn.—A Minnesota man who idolized the shooter who killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and was allegedly building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police was arrested this week after a retired police officer reported his behavior to authorities, according to federal charges.
The warning signs—strikingly similar to the circumstances that preceded the shooting at Colorado’s Club Q last month—prompted a monthslong federal investigation into River William Smith, and resulted in a far different outcome.
