Embry-Riddle student arrested for threatening to shoot up the school with a collapsible rifle.

Written by Kristen Schmutz

Belden Communications News 

John Hagins, 19, an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student, faces multiple charges for making threats to shoot up the campus on the last day of school before the start of Winter Break.

According to reports, ERAU campus security notified Daytona Beach Police Department early this morning (December 9, 2021) of a concerning tip they received from a couple of fellow students. 

“We could have had a tragedy unfold today,” stated DBPD Police Chief Jakari Young. “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.”

Investigators quickly discovered social media messages Hagins had written where he laid out his plans to bring a folding gun to the campus tucked inside a backpack along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Officers found Hagins at his apartments with a collapsible rifle and ammunition in his possession which he sold his vehicle to buy.

“He referenced columbine,” said Chief Young. “He said, once he was done, at that firing range, he was going to campus to enact a columbine. So that is what we are dealing with.”

Detectives are still trying to piece together the exact motive; however, Hagins was in danger of failing classes at ERAU and was also cited for a traffic infraction while on campus yesterday.

Hagins is currently in custody at Daytona Beach Police Department headquarters before being transferred to Volusia County Jail. The exact charges have yet to be determined.