Dramatic moment would-be mass shooter was arrested at gunpoint after his ex-girlfriend showed police a slew of threatening texts in which he said he wanted to 'shoot dead 100 people to break world kill record'
A Florida man accused of threatening a mass shooting detailed his plan to kill 100 people in a slew of threatening text messages sent to his ex-girlfriend, police say.
Body camera footage shows the moment 25-year-old Tristan Scott Wix was arrested Friday outside a supermarket in Daytona Beach Shores after his ex, whose name was withheld, showed the alarming messages to authorities.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said Wix expressed his desire to 'break a world record for longest (sic) confirmed kill ever', allegedly writing 'a good 100 kills would be nice'.
He also wrote that he wanted to die and 'have fun doing it'.
Investigators said Wix had already decided on a location but did not say what it was. He allegedly told authorities he was fascinated with mass shootings but claimed he didn't own any firearms.
A hunting rifle with about 400 rounds of ammunition were later discovered at his apartment, according to police.
Wix was one of three men arrested in the last week on charges of threatening a mass shootings in Florida, Connecticut and Ohio, just two weeks after the country saw two devastating massacres that left 29 dead in 24 hours.
Tristan Wix, 25, allegedly sent texts to his ex-girlfriend detailing his plan to kill 100 people in a mass shooting in Dayonta Beach Shores, Florida, last week. He was arrested for the threats on Friday
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood described Wix as 'psychotic'.
'When you look at this kid's background, he is the profile of a shooter. He lost his job, he lost his girlfriend, he's depressed, he's got the ammunition, and he wants to become known for being the most prolific killer in American history,' Chitwood said.
'Even in his interview (with detectives), he talked in the third person, never in the first person.'
Chitwood called the unnamed woman who reported the texts a 'hero'.
In the texts, Wix allegedly wrote that he didn't want to carry out the shooting at a school, calling it a 'weak target'.
He said he was 'more likely to open fire on a large crowd of people from over three miles away' without disclosing where he had in mind.
'A good 100 kills would be nice. I already have a location ... is that bad?' Wix wrote, according to detectives.
His texts included multiple laughing and crying emojis.
Some 12 hours after he made the threats, Wix was arrested Friday outside a Winn-Dixie store at 2200 S Atlantic Ave.
He was handcuffed and frisked by the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety before officers had him lean against the bumper of his Cadillac SUV while they questioned him.
Wix apologized to officers for his 'reaction' to being swarmed at gunpoint and asked Detective Meegan Wilmot why he was being arrested.
'Is this because of an unpaid debt?' Wix asked.
Wilmot asked whether the suspect had any outstanding warrants, to which he replied: 'Not that I know of.'
Wix is being held without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail on a charge of making written threats to commit a mass shooting.
'There are people in our communities who are motivated to be killers,' Sheriff Chitwood said.
'All of these threats have to be vetted. There is no such thing in today's day and age as: "I was just joking." ... You wouldn't just stand up on a flight from here to Chicago and say "hijack" and expect nothing to happen. Why would you post [a threat] on social media? ... You just don't do that. You're going to get locked up.'
Wix's Facebook profile contains multiple posts expressing thoughts consistent with white supremacy.
'I'm seriously getting tired of all these racist remarks towards whites.. I mean hell. I love Mexican and black people but it seems like they hate me for being a white male and like to make assumptions. Not all.. but many. Thank you for your love and support friends from all races. We are humanity,' he wrote in May 2018.
Also on Friday, a student at Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach was arrested after the FBI received a tip about him posting a threatening message online.
Chitwood said Wix's arrest was not not related to the Seabreeze threat.
