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Police have charged a 19-year-old student for allegedly planning an attack on the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) arrested John Hagins on Thursday and charged him with written threats to injure or kill, terrorism and attempted first-degree homicide after Hagins allegedly planned to “shoot up” the Embry-Riddle campus the day before the school’s winter break, according to a Thursdaynews release.
Hagins' fellow students alerted police to the shooting plot after he sent concerning messages, DBPD Police Chief Jakari Young shared in a Thursdaypress conference. Two Embry-Riddle students went to the university’s campus safety department with their concerns. The university then contacted police about the shooting threat.
“They were very concerned … about a Snapchat group message that they were involved in,” Young said. “They were very concerned about what was being relayed in this Snapchat group chat.”
The police chief alleged that Hagins had planned to leave his apartment that day and head to campus when many final exams were being held to carry out an attack.
Hagins had allegedly referenced the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in his plans, Young said during the conference. “He said … he was going to campus to ‘enact a Columbine,’ " Young said.
Young credited the two students who alerted campus safety with preventing a tragedy, saying, “they thwarted that plan.”
In the DBPD news release, Young stated, “We could have had a tragedy unfold today. Instead, these students reported it to the school and that allowed us to get to work right away and bring Hagins into custody before he could carry out his plans. We thank them all for seeing something and saying something.”
Hagins is currently in custody, Young said during the press conference. He is being held under a no bond status until appearing before a judge.
He added that Hagins has confessed to “making these statements” about planning to attack the campus. “He may want to claim that it was all a joke and he wasn’t serious about it, but we don’t find anything funny about discussing a mass shooting on a campus,” he said. “If he was looking for attention, he’s got it.”
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Embry-Riddle President P. Barry Butler addressed the planned attack in alettersent to students Thursday. In the letter, Butler thanked the students who alerted campus safety and also commended authorities for their “quick action.”
“It was an admittedly frightening event, but our security systems worked and we are all safe,” Butler wrote. “There is no reason to believe that there is any additional threat to the campus community at this time.”
The university did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
