Police: Man accused of interest in mass shootings seen wearing helmet, camouflage
NORWALK — A city man accused of showing interest in mass shootings caused a brief scare Thursday morning when he left his apartment wearing a helmet, camouflage and boots, according to police.
A panicked woman called police around 10 a.m., claiming Brandon Wagshol, 22, was dressed suspiciously.
The outfit, the woman told police, frightened her considering she knew Wagshol was arrested in August after the FBI National
Threat Operations Center received a tip from one of his family members that he was trying to purchase extended magazine clips in New Hampshire.
Sgt. Sofia Gulino, a Norwalk police spokeswoman, said officers were dis
patched to the Bedford Avenue apartment complex where Wagshol lives, but they did not make contact with him.
Police later learned Wagshol was en route to a scheduled meeting with his probation officer. They determined there was no need for a further investigation and no arrests were made.
The incident occurred just one day after Superior Court Judge Gary White modified Wagshol’s conditions of release based on good reports from his probation officer. The modifications allow Wagshol to attend weekly services at Beth Israel Chabad.
White also gave Wagshol permission on Wednesday to leave his home to go to work if he finds a job, according to his attorney Darnell Crosland.
Wagshol has been confined to his father’s Bedford Avenue apartment on house arrest since his release in September on $250,000 bond for four counts of illegal possession of large capacity magazines.
Wagshol is next scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 20.
Police said an investigation into Wagshol’s internet history showed an apparent interest in mass shootings.
The search warrant said Wagshol had an interest in mass shootings that dated back to 2008, when he was a sixth-grader at Ponus Ridge Middle School. In November of that year, Wagshol threatened to shoot another student using his father’s guns because the other child was making it hard for him to concentrate, the warrant said.
“I’ll make Virginia Tech look like nothing,” he muttered under his breath, the warrant said, in reference to the Virginia Tech shooting in which 33 people died the previous year. Wagshol’s case was later referred to the state Department of Children and Families.
Local experts who examined Wagshol’s social media posts following his arrest said there were signs of “self-radicalization.”
When police raided his Bedford Avenue home, they seized a .40 caliber handgun, a .22 caliber rifle, a rifle scope with a laser, four firearm optic sites, a firearm flashlight, body armor with a titanium plate, a full camouflage outfit, a ballistic helmet, tactical gloves, a camouflage bag, computers, and numerous .40 caliber, .22 caliber and .300 blackout rounds of ammunition, according to the search warrant.
In his witness statement, Wagshol, a graduate of Brien McMahon High School and Norwalk Community College, said he drove to New Hampshire to “acquire 30-round magazines and ammunition to circumvent what I viewed as an unconstitutional restriction on the Second Amendment.” However, Wagshol said he did not have any intention of committing a mass shooting “whatsoever.”
Connecticut law defines a “large-capacity magazine” as one that accepts more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Transporting largecapacity magazines into the state is a felony. New Hampshire does not have magazine restrictions.
In the wake of his arrest, Wagshol was suspended and temporarily banned from Central Connecticut State University.