Editor's note: Some readers may find details within this story graphic and disturbing.

A Raleigh 19-year-old was consumed with mass shooters and threatened to become one himself through alarming messages on social media, according to federal prosecutors.

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Raleigh police and the FBI filed an involuntary commitment request for Eric Byrd, detaining him on March 9. He was charged by federal officials with communicating a threat on Thursday.

According to charging documents, Byrd had an obsession with mass shooters and sought to follow in their footsteps. He commonly posted photos of himself holding guns and used pro-Nazi and white supremacist messaging in his content, notably saying, "I love death and destruction. I hope much more comes."

A court document said that Byrd "utilized Instagram to post Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism, expressing an intent to harm others (Black people, Hispanics, and homosexuals) and himself."

On Instagram, Byrd used the hashtags #WHITEPOWER and #HH, believed to be an acronym for "Heil Hitler." He also praised Brenton Tarrant, an Australian man responsible for the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, and Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and injured 14 others in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2014. 

On Jan. 19, 2026, Byrd sent text messages to someone that conveyed the intent to "be a complete menace and danger to society."

"The world needs more Brenton Tarrants," Byrd said in messages obtained by the FBI. "I read his manifesto and watched his livestream it brings tears of joy to my eyes."

FBI agents interviewed Byrd's parents, who admitted he "has issues," saw a therapist and did not take a prescribed medicine. Raleigh police had been called to their home in January after he bought a gun. His mother told agents he was obsessed with guns.

Byrd bought an AK-47 in or around December of 2025. Based on messages reviewed by agents, Byrd may have tried to sell the AK-47 after his parents learned he had it.

His father, Jack Byrd, told WRAL News he was unaware his son had been charged but did not offer any further comment.

A 2009 WRAL story profiled a man who planned a "Columbine-like massacre" at Orange High School and how he was obsessed with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.