Tesla calls police on ex-employee 'threatening to shoot the place up'

Elon Musk called Martin Tripp a 'horrible human being'

Tesla told the police a former employee threatened to shoot up the Gigafactory (Reuters)

Tesla has reported a former employee to the police after claiming he was planning to carry out a shooting at the electric car maker’s Gigafactory manufacturing plant.

The former Tesla technician, Martin Tripp, threatened to “shoot the place up,” according to a spokesperson for the firm.

Storey County police in Nevada responded to the call but were satisfied with the site’s safety and took no further action.

“After several hours of investigation deputies were able to determine there was no credible threat,” the Storey County sheriff, Gerald Antinoro, said in a statement.

“No additional information concerning the ongoing investigation will be released until its conclusion to protect the integrity of the investigative process.”

Mr Tripp, who is currently involved in a legal battle with Tesla over hacking and data theft allegations, called claims he had threatened to carry out a shooting “insane” in an interview with The Washington Post.

He has previously leaked information to the media about potential safety issues with Tesla batteries.

In an interview with The Guardian, he said he had become a “scapegoat” as a result of the leak, which he said contained information which was “absolutely true.”

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, was involved in a heated email exchange with Mr Tripp on Wednesday, in which the billionaire accused his former employee of “breaking the deal” he had with Tesla and “framing” his colleagues for the leaked information.

“I NEVER ‘framed’ anyone else or even insinuated anyone else as being involved in my production of documents,” Mr Tripp responded.

“Putting cars on the road with safety issues is being a horrible human being!”

Mr Musk retorted: “You should ashamed of yourself for framing other people [sic]. You’re a horrible human being.”