TAMPA, FL — A man living at a St. Petersburg assisted living facility was arrested for calling in a threat to MacDill Air Force Base on March 18, prompting a shelter-in-place order at the base, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court by the FBI.

Jonathan James Elder, 35, was charged with making a threat by means of fire or an explosive.

The caller, later identified as Elder, called the MacDill Air Force Base just after 9 a.m. and asked, “How did you like the surprise at the MacDill Visitor Center?” before yelling, “tick tick boom, it’s gonna be between your eyes,” the complaint said.

The comments are thought to be a reference to an explosive device found at the Air Force base two days earlier, on March 16, investigators said.

Elder made a second call on March 18, around 8:50 a.m., leaving a message for an individual in which he said, “Did you enjoy your pipe bombs at the front gate of MacDill?”

He went on to say, “… I told you this last year, if you try to [expletive] with my meds again, I will [expletive] torture you. Well, you tried it again, so here you [are], you don’t learn. I will beat you in the face 10,000 times harder. You will get a pipe bomb that actually explodes in your [expletive] face next time. [Expletive] you, pigs,” according to the complaint.

The person he left that message for didn’t recognize the number and believed they were called in error.

The phone number used to make the call was traced to Elder and the facility where he was staying.

Elder was taken into custody at his facility on the night of March 18.

During an interview, he admitted to calling MacDill Air Force Base and while he admitted that it was his voice on the voicemail of the second person called that morning, he denied making the call, the complaint said.

He told investigators that he “had no grievances with MacDill,” though he called the CIA “a terrorist organization.”

Elder also said he had recently stopped taking some of his medications because of adverse side effects, according to the complaint.

He has an “extensive Baker Act” history and previously made threats to shoot people and build pipe bombs, the complaint said.

He also said he had never made or researched weapons, telling investigators that “it is not something he would ever do.”