Daniel B. Pederson, 42, Chicago, (inset) was arrested last week after he allegedly made a shooting threat in June toward the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan. | Background Photo: Google Street View; Inset: Provided

A judge denied pre-trial release to a Chicago man who prosecutors called “dangerous” after he allegedly threatened a “military precision” mass shooting at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office became aware on June 14 that a man on Chicago’s Riverwalk passed a note to a security guard working at a restaurant on the Riverwalk.

The note indicated there would be a mass shooting with military precision at the Lake County courthouse, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.

The note also made threatening remarks directed at a Lake County judge and a Chicago police officer assigned as a task force officer to the FBI, Covelli said.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Lindsay Hicks said the note mentioned Courtroom 103, which is the courtroom of Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim.

Nerheim is the judge who handled a family case involving Pederson, Hicks said.

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Pederson previously threatened the judge when he was the state’s attorney, Hicks said.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division launched an investigation.

The man returned to the Riverwalk on June 27 and was spotted by the security guard he previously passed the note to, Covelli said.

The security guard contacted the Chicago Police Department and the FBI. The man was located and taken into custody.

Covelli said he was identified as Daniel B. Pederson, 42, Chicago.

Lake County sheriff’s detectives worked with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and obtained an arrest warrant for Pederson for one count of threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony. Additional charges are possible.

Members of the Sheriff’s Warrants Team took custody of Pederson in Chicago last Friday.

Pederson was transported to the Lake County Jail where he appeared for a First Appearance Court hearing.

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During that hearing, Pederson began swearing at Lake County Judge Stacey Seneczko after he was brought into the courtroom, which led to deputies promptly escorting him out of the courtroom and back to the jail.

The state’s attorney’s office filed a petition to detain Pederson last week.

An out-of-county judge was requested in the case and Kane County Judge Salvatore LoPiccolo was assigned to conduct the detention hearing on Tuesday.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Dino Katris said during the detention hearing that Pederson has an established history of threatening the public and officials.

“This defendant is dangerous. He is mentally unstable, has homicidal ideations, mass killing ideations and is fixated on Honorable Michael Nerheim and this courthouse,” Katris argued.

LoPiccolo granted the state’s petition and ordered Pederson held in the Lake County Jail pending trial.

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The judge said the content of the threatening note made it clear what Pederson’s intentions were and that no conditions of release would prevent the man from committing new threats or acting on the threats based on his history.

In 2014, Pederson was arrested for calling a state agency and saying he was going to kill people and light up the Lake County Courthouse and Gurnee Police Department.

He was later convicted in that case and sentenced to six years in prison in 2018 for threatening terrorist action. Pederson also has convictions for violating an order of protection and harassment by telephone.