John Hagins Biography – Wiki
John Hagins is a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, who is accused of planning a mass shooting “like Columbine” at the school. Hagins was arrested with a rifle and ammunition in a backpack after police said he received information from students who viewed Hagins’ social media posts.
Age
John Hagins is 19-years-old.
A resident of North Miami
School also says no lockdown was necessary but increased security will remain on campus.
— Brandon T. Jones (@BrandonTJones_) December 9, 2021
Hagins is a current student at Embry-Riddle, according to police. He was scheduled to take an exam Thursday on campus, police said. Hagins is from North Miami, Florida, and has no criminal record, police said. According to a police press release, Hagins was cited for a traffic violation on campus on December 8, the day before his arrest. Hagins has been suspended by Embry-Riddle and expelled from campus, reports WESH.
According to Young, police are still investigating Hagins’ background. “He was on academic probation. His GPA dropped below 2.0, ”Young said. “So he was struggling with his grades.” Police said in a press release that Hagins “was in danger of failing classes at ERAU.”
According to his Facebook profile, Hagins graduated from Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami Gardens, Florida, in 2020. His Instagram page shows that Hagins is a pilot and also takes photos of planes often. The Instagram photo of him says in the bio: “He is not gay if he is TSA … @ jhagins4 is the main one … All images are mine”.
The Federal Aviation Administration database shows that John Argis Hagins IV has held a private pilot license since October 2020. Hagins is qualified to fly single-engine aircraft, according to the FAA database.
There Has Been a Rash of Shooting Threats
Young told the news conference: “I think everyone in this room knows that on November 30, we had a mass shooting on a school campus in Michigan, at Oxford High School. So that was the first thing that occurred to me when I got this phone call this morning. ”
“I am extremely relieved that we are not the next national media story when it comes to a mass shooting on campus. Because the intention was there, ”Young told reporters.
There have been reports of threats and hoaxes about possible shootings at high schools and universities across the country in the wake of the Oxford mass shooting. According to ABC News, several students in Michigan alone face charges and investigations into threats and false alarms in the wake of the deadly shooting.
“They’re saying, ‘I’m going to bomb the school. I’m going to kill people, ”Washtenaw County Attorney Eli Savit told ABC News. “Even if you think you’re doing it through an anonymous social media account, law enforcement has ways to track and find you, and when that happens, they’re going to charge you.”
Embry-Riddle said in a statement: “The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and community is our number one priority. Earlier today, a student from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University was arrested and is being held without bail. Our campus security officers are working closely with the Daytona Beach Police Department. We are grateful to law enforcement officers, who acted quickly and did exactly what they are trained to do to keep everyone safe. ”
Embry-Riddle added: “The university immediately notified the entire community of the police activity. No lockdown was necessary. The student was invaded and suspended and he cannot return to our campus. As a precaution, more security protocols will be maintained on campus. But again, the Embry-Riddle campus is safe. Unaccompanied reporters are not allowed on campus at this time. ”
John Hagins Posted on Snapchat About His Plans
Young said Daytona Beach police began investigating after receiving a security phone call from the Embry-Riddle campus around 4 a.m. after two students told campus security they were concerned about the group Snapchat messages they had received. “They were very concerned about what was being broadcast on this Snapchat group chat,” Young said. “They were so concerned that they responded to campus security. We get involved and once we get to the scene, the investigation starts from there. ”
Young said Hagins was planning to carry out a mass shooting at the university on Dec. 9. “Today is the last day before winter break. Today is finals, finals, so this was all part of the plan, ”Young said. “Because today, the campus will be full. Because everyone has to be there for their final exams. So this was all in his plan. By God’s grace, those students went ahead and thwarted that plan. By the grace of God, they went ahead and prevented Embry-Riddle Aeronautical from being the next national media story regarding a mass shooting at that campus. ”
“The point I want to take home is the importance of ‘if you see something, say something,’” Young said. “This is the way we fight what is happening in this country right now. Because most people who carry out shootouts like this, someone knows something. But they usually don’t bring it to the attention of the authorities. So the credit really goes to those two students who stepped up, stepped up, and brought this to our attention. ”
Young said Hagins has told investigators that the social media posts were a joke, claiming that he “wasn’t serious per se about what he said. But he admitted those were his messages. He said so.” . Young said Hagins told police he only had the gun to go to the field.
Hagins Was Found With a Collapsible Rifle
BREAKING: @DaytonaBchPD say they arrested 19 yr old John Hagins, an Embry Riddle student, who they say was planning an on campus shooting today. PD found him with this backpack with amo and a gun. Chief Young says Hagins confessed to following “a Columbine situation”. @news6wkmg pic.twitter.com/zW8BirnrjO
— Molly Reed (@Mollyreednews) December 9, 2021
Young said officers went to the Andros Isles Apartments complex on Acklins Circle in Daytona Beach, where Hagins lives. “We set up a perimeter and while we were getting a search warrant, he ends up coming out,” Young said. “We were able to grab him and stop him. Once we stopped him, we immediately noticed that he had this backpack. ”
At the press conference, Young showed a yellow backpack to show to reporters and said that a gun magazine could be seen in the backpack. The police chief opened the bag to reveal a collapsible rifle that he claimed Young had inside. “The plan was that he was going to leave his apartment, he would go to Volusia Top Gun to practice and then he would go to Embry-Riddle,” Young told reporters.
Other @EmbryRiddle students reported the social media post that Hagins made. Officers were waiting outside of the suspects house when he walked out with backpack and was arrested @MyNews13 @DaytonaBchPD pic.twitter.com/xDA3scIlAJ
— Brandon T. Jones (@BrandonTJones_) December 9, 2021
Young said the weapon is a Kel-Tec Sub 2000 rifle. He said they also found several boxes of ammunition in Hagins’ bag. “It was loaded for the bear. I was prepared, ”Young told reporters. Young did not say when or where Hagins purchased the rifle and ammunition and did not provide any other details about the weapon, including whether it was Hagins’ legal property. But Young said he believes the gun could have been a recent purchase, because, on some social media, Hagins referenced that he had “finished school shopping” and included a photo of the gun.
Young said they seized several boxes of 9mm ammunition, six magazines, a telescopic sight, ear protection, and “because the rifle is collapsible, he was able to fold it up and fit it perfectly in his backpack. So if you walk around campus with a backpack, no one would suspect that there was a rifle in his backpack. ”
Charged & Arrested
John Hagins is a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, who is accused of planning a mass shooting “like Columbine” at the school. Hagins, 19, was arrested with a rifle and ammunition in a backpack after police said he received information from students they saw about social media posts made by Hagins.
Daytona Beach police say Hagins was planning an attack on the university on Thursday, December 9, 2021, which is the last day of exams of the semester. Hagins was charged with written threats to hurt or kill, terrorism, and attempted murder in the first degree, police said.
Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young told a news conference that the arrest stopped a “credible threat” and a “plot to shoot at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.” Young said Hagins referenced the 1999 Columbine High School massacre that left 13 victims and two gunmen dead and that he planned to go to a shooting range Thursday morning.
“He said that once he was done at that shooting range, he would go to campus to enact a Columbine,” Young told reporters at a news conference. He “He wanted to create another Columbine.” But Young told reporters that Hagins now claims that the social media posts were a joke. Police said in a press release that “it appears Hagins sold his vehicle to buy that gun and ammunition.”
Embry-Riddle is a private university with a focus on aviation and aerospace programs, according to its website. The school’s Daytona Beach campus is home to about 6,700 undergraduate students and 780 graduate students, according to the university’s website.
Hagins’ arrest comes a week after a 15-year-old Oxford high school student killed four students and injured several more in a Michigan high school shooting. The suspect in the Michigan shooting was arrested after the mass shooting and faces multiple charges. His parents also face charges related to the shooting. According to a report by The Conversation, school shootings reached a record high in 2021, with more than 222 shootings on school property.
Heavy was unable to reach Hagins for comment and it was not immediately known if he had retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf. Young said in a statement: “We could have had a tragedy today. Instead, these students reported him to the school and that allowed us to go to work immediately and detain Hagins before he could carry out his plans. We thank you all for seeing something and saying something. ”
Criminal History
Hagins does not have a criminal history and has no history of mental health issues that police are aware of, Young said. The 19-year-old is being held without bail until he makes his first appearance in court. The investigation is ongoing, police said.
Police say John Hagins plotted to shoot up the school. Students told campus security about some Snapchat messages they received and police were called. They arrested him at his apartment https://t.co/jAhrxJ4ySp
— Mike Springer WFTV (@mspringerwftv) December 9, 2021
Young told reporters, “We have him in custody. He is upstairs now and he has already confessed to making these statements. He has confessed to it. He may want to claim 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 campus. If he was looking for attention, he’s got it. I don’t think he wanted the kind of attention that he has. But he’s got it. ”
Details about when Hagins could make his first court appearance were not immediately released. Hagins is not yet listed in the Volusia County Jail or in the Volusia County court records.
Young gave credit to his investigators. “From the moment it was brought to our attention, they left no stone unturned. When you want to talk about a relentless follow up on something, these investigators that you see to my right, did everything they could to make sure we located him, set up a perimeter, and got him into custody before he could leave that apartment complex to carry out his plan today, ”Young said.
“Investigators are still searching, so there may be additional firearms,” Young told reporters. He said based on the information they’ve obtained through the investigation so far, it is believed Hagins was acting alone and no one else was involved.
“This is an ongoing investigation, so we are still piecing together the specific motive here,” Young told reporters.
