MIAMI (WSVN) - Police have determined there was no threat after a man posted a photo to Instagram showing him holding a high-powered rifle and naming the Ultra Music Festival in the caption.
7News sources said City of Miami Police tracked down the man on Sunday and immediately questioned him.
The photo that surfaced on Instagram showed the subject wearing a dark gray T-shirt, jean shorts and a baseball cap while holding the firearm. On the table next to him was a handgun with a silencer clearly visible.
The picture was captioned “Ready for the weekend” and included the hashtags “#tgif,” “#ultramusicfestival” and “#mmw2018,” the latter being a reference to Miami Music Week.
The name on the account was Rayne Russell, and the photo was tagged in Fort Lauderdale.
Ray Martinez, the head of security for Ultra said his social media command team were already on to Russell’s post.
“Great police work by the Miami Police Department,” he said. “We had his picture, we knew who he was, and he had posted it while he was inside our festival, and we saw that post, and we were able to identify the location where he was at.”
According to police, Russell came to Miami from Jamaica for the festival and took the photo in Fort Lauderdale with a family member’s legally-owned guns.
After questioning Russell, they determined that there was no credible threat, but instead, a social media slip-up and a terrible lapse in judgment.
“He did something thinking it was funny, and obviously we didn’t find it funny at all,” said Miami Police officer Michael Vega.
However, revelers at the festival feel that this was no laughing matter.
“It’s like madness, you know?” said reveler Kamelia Kargar. “It’s scary, and it’s freaking me out.”
“I’m very worried because, when there’s a big crowd, you don’t know what kind of person might do something crazy,” said Ultra goer Abdiel Garcia.
“Deja vu, my friend, just like it happened in Las Vegas,” Garcia added.
After the October 2017 massacre at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas, security is even tighter at this year’s Ultra. Officials said they are taking any and every form of threat seriously.
“Really? Right after the Vegas incident happened?” Martinez said. “We met together with the Miami Police Department and started our planning right from that moment and looked at the lessons learned – what you can learn from those incidences.”
Russell was questioned just hours after he attended the festival on Sunday. He will not be facing any charges.
Since making the post, Russell has made his Instagram account private.
Police have called this year’s Ultra the safest one to date, with fewer arrests than years past.
Officers made a total of 27 arrests during the three-day event. Charges included disorderly intoxication, battery on a police officer and fraud from buying tickets with counterfeit cash.
Crews spent Monday morning cleaning Bayfront Park. Ultra organizers said the festival will be back in 2019.
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