A 54-year-old former Florida City police sergeant was arrested this week after allegedly threatening to shoot up the department's own station, according to Florida City police. Rocquel McCray, whose employment with the Florida City Police Department ended in 2019, was taken into custody at a local restaurant on multiple felony charges following a cross-state journey that began in Jacksonville and ended in the small Miami-Dade County community where she once wore a badge.
According to BNO News, authorities say McCray called the Florida City Police Department and threatened to shoot at the station while speaking with a dispatcher, and that the alleged threats were first made on social media before being immediately reported to law enforcement. Investigators say she traveled from Jacksonville to Miami International Airport, then used a private transportation service to reach Florida City, where officers eventually located her at a local restaurant. Police say she resisted arrest, and the department has not identified the specific charges she now faces.
Hospitalized With Chest Pains After Arrest
Florida City police confirmed to Local 10 News that McCray was hospitalized after complaining of chest pains following her arrest and will be booked into jail once she is medically cleared. The station's report also notes that responding officers had been trying to locate her after the threats surfaced. Local community outlet True Homestead reported that during the incident at the restaurant, McCray posted a Facebook video in which she reportedly asked responding officers to “unalive” her as police closed in, a detail that points toward a possible mental health crisis surrounding the arrest.
A Career, Then A Runoff For Mayor
McCray's history with Florida City runs deeper than her police career. She served as a sergeant during her tenure with the department before her employment ended in 2019, per the same account from True Homestead. Just a few years later, in early 2022, she ran for Mayor of Florida City and became the first female candidate in 38 years to force a mayoral runoff election, according to the Miami-Dade County Elections Department. She lost the February 15, 2022 runoff to incumbent Mayor Otis Wallace, who led the city's administration for over three decades, with McCray drawing 35.5% of the vote, or 294 ballots.
McCray also maintains a listing on the Brady List, a public database that tracks law enforcement officer misconduct, public complaints, and decertification records in Florida. Florida City itself, incorporated in 1914, is the southernmost municipality on the U.S. mainland, sitting south of Miami.
Felony Threat Law Carries Up To 15 Years
The charges McCray faces stem from Florida Statute § 836.10, which classifies sending or transmitting a written or electronic threat to kill, injure, or conduct a mass shooting as a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, 15 years of probation, and a $10,000 fine, according to the Sammis Law Firm. A 2021 amendment to that statute removed the requirement that a threat be delivered directly to its intended target, a change explained by Richard Hornsby, PL that now lets prosecutors bring charges over threats posted publicly on social media.
McCray's case involves alleged online threats linked to a former officer's own department under the toughened statute.
