SALT LAKE CITY — A man accused of plotting a mass shooting spree at a downtown mall and a Sugar House movie theater to "kill as many people as possible," made his first court appearance Thursday.

Shackled with his hands in front of him and wearing an orange Salt Lake County Jail jumpsuit, Jack Harry Stiles, 42, appeared briefly before 3rd District Judge Robin Reese.

Stiles was given a copy of the charge against him — threat of terrorism, a second-degree felony — and an attorney from the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association was assigned to represent him.

He was being held Thursday on $1 million bond. His next hearing was scheduled for Oct. 7.

According to police and prosecutors, Stiles had "specific, detailed plans to engage in a mass shooting" spree, which was to have occurred on Sept. 25. He allegedly told investigators that he planned to "just randomly shoot and kill people" at the City Creek Center and the Sugarhouse Movies 10, and planned to plant a bomb on a Utah Transit Authority bus or TRAX train, charging documents state. He allegedly plotted to set off the bomb as it passed under the pedestrian bridge on Main Street downtown.

Stiles' last known residence was at a transitional housing facility for Valley Mental Health. Patients live in the facility as part of a treatment plan and typically stay for less than a year. Police discovered the alleged plot after a crisis worker at Pioneer Valley Hospital made them aware of the types of things he was talking about.

Email: preavy@deseretnews.com, Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam

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