Tristan Wix made plans to commit a mass shooting and he hoped to ‘kill up to 100 people’ and ‘have fun’ while doing it, sheriff says
DAYTONA BEACH — Tristan Wix sent
threatening texts to his ex-girlfriend, but they weren’t about harming her, deputies said.
Instead, the Daytona Beach man described to her his intent to commit a mass shooting, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood told the media Saturday.
Wix’s ex-girlfriend reported the texts to law enforcement and Wix, 25, was taken into custody Friday afternoon outside a grocery store in Daytona Beach Shores, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He remains held without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail on a charge of making threats to commit a mass shooting.
“An ex-girlfriend gets alarming text messages from her ex-boyfriend talking about how he wants to be the next prolific shooter,” Chitwood said. “He wants to kill up to 100 people (and) he wants to die and have fun while he’s dying.”
Authorities searched Wix’s apartment and discovered a hunting rifle with about 400 rounds of ammunition, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said they are still checking the suspect’s criminal background and social media accounts.
Chitwood called the woman who reported the texts a “hero” and described Wix as having a “psychotic” personality.
“Even in his interview (with detectives), he talked in the third person, never in the first person,” the sheriff said.
In his texts, Wix stated that he didn’t want to target a school, describing it as a “week target,” deputies said. Instead, he was “more likely to open fire on a large crowd of people from over 3 miles away” and that he wanted to break a record for the most kills by a mass shooter
according to the Sheriff’s Office.
In another text he wrote, “A good 100 kills would be nice. I already have a location ... is that bad?” detectives said.
Chitwood said Wix never identified the location he had in mind.
Volusia sheriff: Ex-girlfriend reported Daytona man's threatening texts about mass shooting
