What a Joker

A 28-year-old Maryland man named Neil Prescott repeatedly threatened to "blow everybody up" at his former workplace and called himself a "joker," in what is believed to be a reference to last week's mass shooting during a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado. Prescott reportedly called a colleague, who worked with him at mail services supplier Pitney Bowes, on Monday and repeatedly said, "I am a joker; I'm going to load my guns," according to a search warrant application. He also said he wanted to "see the supervisor's brain splatter all over the sidewalk," according to court records. The colleague, who knew of Prescott's gun collection, alerted police. Prescott had an arsenal of guns, though it wasn't clear how serious he was about the threats he had made to his boss over the telephone. It also wasn't immediately clear when the threat was to be carried out (if ever), but last week's mass shooting during the latest Batman movie — coupled with the "Joker" reference — put police on edge and gave the comments extra urgency. Though there's no other indication of a link to the Colorado shooting, police believe the joker comments were a clear reference to the killings, for which the bellend involved, James Holmes, could be executed. Prescott clearly picked the wrong time to be making such threats, especially when references to the Joker come into play. Families who have lost loved ones are still grieving. This is one of the few times where a Holocaust joke would've been in much better taste. But speaking of movie-theatre shootings, Warner Bros. is rethinking its plans for the film "Gangster Squad" in light of a scene featuring a movie-theatre shooting, but beyond that, Hollywood executives expect little fall-out from the Batman shootings. Officials at Warner Bros. are expected to meet on Monday to discuss whether to remove or edit the "Gangster Squad" shooting scene, or to change the September 7 release date for the film starring Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling, according to a person familiar with the discussions.