Police thwart 3 mass shooting plots around US
Three mass shooting plots were thwarted in recent days with the arrests of three men in unrelated cases, authorities in Connecticut, Florida and Ohio said.
Tips from the public aided in the three arrests, which occurred on Thursday and Friday. Police in each case said the men, all white and in their 20s, posted online or sent text messages with threats of committing mass shootings.
The arrests come amid renewed cries to change the country’s gun laws in the aftermath of mass shootings in California, Texas and Ohio. Multiple false alarm and hoax shooting scares have kept the nation on edge in recent weeks.
In Connecticut, Brandon Wagshol, 22, of Norwalk was arrested on four counts of illegal possession of large-capacity magazines, the city’s police department said Thursday.
Wagshol was arrested in a joint investigation by Norwalk police and the FBI after federal authorities received a tip that he allegedly was trying to buy high-capacity rifle magazines out of state.
Police said Wagshol purchased rifle parts online to build his own weapon and had posted on Facebook showing “his interest in committing a mass shooting.”
In Florida, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said Tristan Scott Wix, 25, of Daytona Beach was arrested Friday and charged with making threats to commit a mass shooting.
“A school is a weak target.. id be more likely to open fire on a large crowd of people from over 3 miles away,” the sheriff ’s department said Wix texted regarding plans to commit a mass shooting. The office did not say to whom Wix sent the messages..
In Ohio, police arrested James P. Reardon, 20, without incident Friday after receiving a tip about an online video where the man identified himself as the shooter at the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown – an incident that hadn’t happened yet, according to the FBI. He was charged with telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing, FBI Cleveland Division said.
Police executing a search warrant at Reardon’s parents’ home said they found rounds of ammunition, semiautomatic weapons and anti-Semitic information.