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Man accused in alleged simulated shooting videos charged

Posted at 7:47 AM, Dec 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-09 19:02:02-05

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A Spring Valley man accused of posting YouTube videos showing him loading and aiming guns out a window at people walking by his downtown San Diego hotel room, was charged this afternoon with three felony counts each of possession of an assault weapon and child endangerment.

Steve Homoki, 30, was arrested without incident on Thursday on suspicion of possession of an assault weapon, possession of a high capacity magazine and child endangerment, according to the San Diego Police Department.

Homoki's arrest stemmed from a tip to the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force on Dec. 2, SDPD Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said.

SDPD served a search warrant at Homoki's Spring Valley home and seized several firearms from his residence. According to the warrant, Homoki has 14 firearms registered in California purchased between February 2018 and May 2019.

RELATED: Man suspected of posting videos rehearsing downtown San Diego mass shooting

According to the warrant, Homoki booked a room at the Sofia Hotel on March 22 and checked out the next day. On Sept. 17, a video was posted to a "Steven Anderson" YouTube channel, believed to belong to Homoki. The video showed the interior of a Sofia Hotel room from what appears to be a camera mounted to a man's body.

The videographer is not seen as the video continues to show two assault-style rifles on a couch, along with a female mannequin head, a Department of Homeland Security license plate, an envelope, and ammunition scattered on the room's floor, documents stated.

The video then shows a semi-automatic handgun being loaded and pointed at people walking outside in the area of Front Street and Broadway, as the subject is heard saying "jams, boom," documents said. The ammunition then jams the gun and the subject unloads the round.

The subject continues, picking up an assault-style rifle from the couch and pointing it out the window at pedestrians again and pulling the trigger while the firearm's chamber is empty, or "dry firing." The subject can be heard saying "one down, more to go," the warrant said.

Another video posted to the same YouTube channel on Sept. 18 appears to be taken from inside the same hotel showing similar images play out, the warrant continued. The subject once again points weapons out a hotel room window at pedestrians and dry fires.

On Nov. 30, an anonymous report to the FBI believed a online chat user with a YouTube channel under the same "Steven Anderson" name had "gone off the deep end." The unknown person said they feared he was planning to do something, adding they can "almost guarantee if he is confronted while at home, he will open fire on Federal Agents or police."

The unknown person said they watched the user "slowly become less stable over the period of almost an entire year" and post a goodbye message about five or six months prior.

Authorities said they believe Homoki was rehearsing a domestic terrorist attack in the videos. SDPD has also filed a gun violence restraining order against Homoki.

Homoki was being held in lieu of $1 million bail pending arraignment.

City News Service contributed to this report