Florida woman hailed as hero for alerting authorities to alarming texts that led to arrest of potential mass shooter

A Florida woman whose ex-boyfriend texted saying he wanted to “break a world record for longest confirmed kill ever,” and, “a good 100 kills would be nice” is being hailed as a hero for reporting the missives, leading to his arrest.

Police arrested Tristan Wix, 25, of Daytona Beach Friday after he sent a series of texts saying that he wanted to die and “have fun doing it," the Velusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

He was held without bond, charged with making threats to commit a mass shooting for detailing plans to shoot as many people as he could in a large crowd, police said.

“A school is a weak target,” Wix wrote, according to samples released by the sheriff’s office. “I’d be more likely to open fire on a large crowd of people from over 3 miles away. I’d wanna break a world record for longest confirmed kill ever.”

His words were interspersed with laugh/cry face emojis, police said.

'I just wanna die and I wanna have fun doing it'

Wix implied he was immune from prosecution because he hadn’t physically done anything.

“Ah well even if you told someone, me saying I wanna do it and think about it is not the same as actually doing it lol,” Wix texted. “Was kinda hoping someone would come into my life worth not doing it for, for the sake of all those people (laughing cry face emoji). I'm not crazy I just wanna die and I wanna have fun doing it, but I'm the most patient person in the world.”

Also collaborating with detectives were the Volusia County Crime Center worked with members of the New Smyrna Beach Police Department, Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the statement said. They found Wix in a Winn Dixie parking lot and took him into custody.

He told police he did not own any firearms, but a search of his apartment yielded a .22-caliber hunting rifle and 400 rounds, CNN reported. Wix also admitted to a fascination with mass shootings.

“When you look at this kid’s background, he is the profile of a shooter,” Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood told CNN on Sunday. “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.”

'This is the way the system’s supposed to work'

Chitwood told reporters the woman who reported the texts was a hero.

“This is the way the system’s supposed to work,” Chitwood told reporters, describing how the various law enforcement agencies had acted immediately and in concert, visiting his job and ascertaining he had just lost his employment, then finding out where he lived, fanning out to determine his whereabouts, and then arresting him in the grocery store parking lot.

Speaking to reporters from The Daytona Beach News-Journal and other outlets, he said Wix was clearly disturbed. “Even in his interview (with detectives), he talked in the third person, never in the first person.”