December 10, 2021 – In Breaking News – NBC News
Police in Florida say two students at a Daytona Beach university may have thwarted a mass shooting by reporting concerning messages shared in a Snapchat group to campus security.
Speaking at a press conference, Daytona Beach Police Department Chief Jakari Young said officers arrested John Hagins, 19, a student at the private Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, early Thursday morning over an alleged “plot to shoot up” the campus.
(Daytona Beach police arrested 19-year-old John Hagins, a student at Embry Riddle University, after two students reported alarming messages shared by Hagins on Snapchat to authorities. Hagins faces attempted murder and terrorism charges. Courtesy of NBC News and YouTube. Posted on Dec 11, 2021.)
On Friday, a judge ruled Hagins be held without bond, NBC affiliate WESH reported.
Young said Hagins had threatened to carry out at an attack like the deadly 1999 mass shooting at the Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before students left school for the winter break.
Concerned by messages from Hagins, two of his peers reported their concerns to campus security, who alerted police at around 4:10 a.m.
“It was a Snapchat group message that they were involved in and they were very concerned about what was being relayed in this Snapchat group chat,” Young said.
Police quickly made their way to Hagins’ residence and were able to apprehend him as he left his apartment.
(Courtesy of Daytona Beach Police, Facebook)
The 19-year-old was carrying a collapsible rifle, a magazine and boxes of ammunition in his backpack.
Young said Hagins had planned to go to a shooting range to practice with the firearm, which police said it appeared the 19-year-old had sold his vehicle to purchase, before making his way to school.
And had he made it to campus, Young said police feared Hagins might have carried out a sinister plot based on social media messages found by investigators.
“Today is the last day before winter break. Today is the last day. Today is finals. Final exams. So, this was all part of the plan because today the campus (would) be packed because everybody has to be there to take their final exam, so this was all in his plan,” Young said.
“By the Grace of God those two students came forward and thwarted that plan,” he said.
Continue reading… Students reporting alarming Snapchat messages may have thwarted mass shooting, police say
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