Deputies Question Man on E-Mail

It may have been meant to be funny but sheriff’s deputies took it as no joke when, they said, a health-care employee in Thousand Oaks sent a threatening e-mail to a co-worker Friday.

The computer correspondence, in which authorities said the worker claimed he had 100 rounds of ammunition and that it could be the day he “goes off,” resulted in the arrival of a SWAT team, a sheriff’s helicopter and a K-9 unit.

The incident occurred about 2:30 p.m. at Wellpoint Health Care in the 4500 block of La Tienda when a supervisor was alerted to the e-mail and called authorities, deputies said.

Deputies said they detained the worker, a 48-year-old Los Angeles resident, who told authorities the message was meant as a joke. The man was not arrested, but a report will be forwarded to prosecutors for review of possible criminal charges, deputies said.