SALT LAKE CITY — A Cedar City man is facing federal charges after making over 600 threats to employees at VA hospitals in Salt Lake City and St. George.
Aaron David Kirschner, 48, was taken into custody Wednesday after surrendering to officers at his Iron County home. Kirschner had previously claimed to have taken an overdose of medication in an attempt to kill himself.
Court documents show two charges of interstate threats and one count of cyberstalking leveled against Kirschner for the threats he allegedly made to the George E. Wahlen Medical Center during a three-day period from March 24-27.
Law enforcement authorities said Kirschner used his computer and cell phone to make 609 calls to the hospital. He told witnesses that he used his computer to "occupy as many V.A. medical center phone lines as he could, occupying as many as five phone lines with the intent to annoy and harass until his demands were met," according to the detective with the Department of Veterans Affairs Police.
Documents detail the following threats made by Kirschner:
- “Tell [the chief of staff identified by name] she is a dead woman.”
- “I am in the lobby of the main building; I’m looking at the Utah campus; I am not going home; nobody is going home.”
- “You are going to die; Nobody is going home today; You think I am joking but I am not.”
- “There are two more dead bodies and that it will be on your hands”
- “You are not to hang up again, because if you do, I will put you to the ground and you will not get to see your family again
Five VA employees were able to identify Kirschner from his voice and by the phone number he was calling from. The witnesses suffered substantial emotional distress from Kirschner's calls, the documents say.
The Veterans Affairs clinic in St. George was closed Tuesday after it also received threats from Kirschner. The clinic is scheduled to reopen Thursday.
After being apprehended, Kirschner was taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Once cleared medically, Kirschner will be turned over to VA Police.
