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"I want to erase them," Joshua Cobb, 23, posted on social media, according to U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger. "All of them really, but in this case as many as I possibly can."
Interviewed by law enforcement, Cobb admitted writing the posts and even identified what he'd considered potential targets, including a Jersey Strong gym and an Aldi grocery store in Robbinsville, the U.S. attorney said on Monday, May 13.
He "also discussed his access to guns and idolized other mass shooters," Sellinger said.
In notes retrieved from his phone, Cobb said he was headed to "the good part of my story where I start taking you mother f*ckers out and killing you all… My rampage will soon happen… I plan to now continue accumulating the necessary equipment needed to execute. Once all equipment is in, time will then tell. You will all die."
Cobb first wrote in December 2022 that he'd "officially" begun "planning my attack," Sellinger said.
"It is going to take place in 2023 in the state of New Jersey," he allegedly added. "I have not chosen a exact date but I am going to be sure it is close to an important holiday to their race.
"I have a location in mind already which I have frequented for the past year and I am certain nobody there is armed to be able to stop me from spraying them to the ground.
"I have already acquired 2 of the 4 firearms I plan to use for my attack, and I also know my entry and exit points already after the mayhem.
"I want to cause mayhem on the white community," Cobb allegedly posted. "The reason i specifically want to target white people is because as a black male, they will NEVER understand my struggles. Same way I will never understand their struggles, but I don’t care to."
According to the U.S. Marine Corps, Cobb attended basic training in South Carolina from June to October of 2023.
He was on leave for eight days in September and arrived for duty at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, in Twentynine Palms, California this past February, according to the Corps.
He soon began posted again under the handle "1dayUsuffer," and was discharged soon after, authorities said.
Some of Cobb's 2023 social media posts expressed "hopes of progressing into a serial killer," Sellinger said.
These, he said, included:
- "Imagine the rush you’d feel while shooting some sh*t up. Probably could get literally high off the adrenaline alone. I’d probably OD on my own adrenaline after the 10th body goes down."
- "I hope I do progress into a serial killer because I f*cking hate life man... But one day everyone will suffer. I promise I will make everyone feel my f*ucking pain. My deep, sincere, raw, & sharp pain."
- "There is no way out for me. The only way out is bloodshed."
- "Just wait man. Remember [my username]. [I] will leave clues when im done."
- "I’m just leaving evidence for whoever investigates my case."
A warranted search of Cobb's phone turned up additional notes in which he said he "lack(s) the means necessary to kill as many as I intend to but one day I will have the available resources (finance) to purchase the appropriate weaponry for my killing(s)."
"I am going to kill one of you mother*ckers I f*cking hate humanity. All of you f*cking duck and I don’t give a single f*ck about any of you though I may appear I do."
Cobb’s phone also contained notes on how to bring guns into New Jersey, Sellinger said.
Interviewed by agents with the FBI Newark Joint Terrorism Task Force, Cobb spoke of scenarios he'd dreamed up, including one in which he would "just go into like a rich white area and just like start shooting," a federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Trenton says.
Cobb also mentioned other mass shooters, the FBI said, nothing that he "felt a connection" with Nikolas Cruz and "liked the element of surprise and style" he saw exhibited by Payton Gendron.
The agents charged Cobb with transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce. He was expected to remain in federal custody as the case against him progresses in U.S. District Court in Trenton.
Sellinger credited members of the task force with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, agents of the FBI Field Office in Los Angeles, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office and the Hamilton and Robbinsville police departments.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vera Varshavsky of Sellinger's National Security Unit is handling the case for the government, assisted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section.
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