Valley Fair scare: Man charged with gun crimes, but not threat that spurred arrest

SAN JOSE — A 21-year-old Monterey County man has been charged with multiple gun crimes, but not for actually making the shooting threats to Westfield Valley Fair that authorities say prompted his arrest on the South Bay mall’s grounds earlier this week. Pictured are firearms and ammunition recovered from a 21-year-old Seaside resident following his Feb. 3, 2021 arrest at Westfield Valley Fair mall, in connection with a social-media shooting threat he allegedly made against the San Jose mall. (San Jose Police Dept.)  Hunter Tital was charged Friday with four felony gun crimes encompassing him reportedly having a concealed loaded handgun in his satchel when he was arrested Wednesday afternoon, and an AR-15-style rifle recovered from his car. But his primary arresting offense, making criminal threats, was not filed. A San Jose police report details threatening statements that investigators say Tital made on the social-media platform Snapchat, which combined with his posting a video of a rifle in a duffel bag and his communication with another Snapchat user, appears to have spurred a police response that made its way to Santa Cruz County authorities and eventually to South Bay authorities. But a lack of specificity in the shooting remarks also…
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