Police: Tips may have stopped Norwalk men from carrying out mass shootings

Jeremy Hugh Rogers, 25, of Norwalk, was arrested Aug. 22, 2019 on charges of terrorizing, terrorizing with a deadly weapon and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person. Police said could have been targeting a Walmart in Maine for a mass shooting. Authorities were alerted after Rogers allegedly sent a video on Facebook Messenger to a woman in New York. The video showed Rogers wearing a ski mask and holding an AR-15 rifle. In the video, he allegedly said, “F— it, I’m going to Walmart.” less Jeremy Hugh Rogers, 25, of Norwalk, was arrested Aug. 22, 2019 on charges of terrorizing, terrorizing with a deadly weapon and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person. Police said could have been ... more Photo: Knox County Jail Photo Photo: Knox County Jail Photo Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Police: Tips may have stopped Norwalk men from carrying out mass shootings 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

NORWALK — Tips may have stopped two city men in their 20s from carrying out mass shootings, police said.

Brandon Wagshol, 22, is confined to his father’s Bedford Avenue apartment on house arrest after police say he showed an interest on social media in committing a mass shooting.

Jeremy Hugh Rogers, 25, remains jailed in Maine, where police say he threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a local Walmart.

Lt. Terry Blake, a spokesman for the Norwalk Police Department, said there is “no connection between these two that we are currently aware of.”

Rogers was arrested Aug. 22 on charges of terrorizing, terrorizing with a deadly weapon and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person.

According to his Facebook page, Rogers grew up in Greenwich. A Greenwich High School official said Wednesday Rogers withdrew in 2011 before graduating. It was not known why he withdrew.

In October 2016, Rogers was convicted in Connecticut on firearms and child endangerment charges — both felonies.

Rogers was charged in July 2016 with criminal possession of a firearm, altering identification on guns, risk of injury to a minor and violation of probation following a disturbance at a Norwalk home. Rogers was living on Silk Street in Norwalk at the time.

His latest arrest stemmed from a New York woman tipping off Maine authorities that he could be targeting a Walmart there for a mass shooting, police said.

Police said the tip fueled a fast-moving investigation from multiple law enforcement agencies that may have stopped Rogers from carrying out the incident.

Authorities were alerted after Rogers allegedly sent a video on Facebook Messenger to a woman in New York. According to the Village Soup newspaper, the video showed Rogers wearing a ski mask and holding an AR-15 rifle.

In the video, he allegedly said, “F— it, I’m going to Walmart.”

In a second video, Rogers was not wearing a mask, the newspaper said, and was making disparaging comments about a woman and pointing a gun at his head, according to police. The woman later called New York State Police to report his erratic behavior, police said.

Another video was then found on Facebook of Rogers shooting the semi-automatic AR-15 rifle into the air on a property he recently moved to in Rockport, Maine, police said.

While searching for Rogers on Aug. 21, police said they closed and evacuated the Walmart in Thomaston, Maine, where officers believe he may have been heading.

Rogers was eventually detained outside a Rockport residence. Rogers, who remains in custody in Maine on $50,000 cash bail, will be back in court on Sept. 25.

“He was prepared for something,” Officer Elizabeth Hart, of the Thomaston Police Department, told the Bangor Daily News. “We’re not sure what, exactly.”

“Everyone felt that this case required a very fast response,” Hart said. “These types of individuals, these types of threats, are the ones that sometimes slip through the cracks.”

The Maine incident happened three weeks after a gunman went to a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and killed 22 people.

In Norwalk, Wagshol was arrested last month on four counts of illegal possession of large-capacity magazines stemming from a raid of his Bedford Avenue apartment where police say they found guns, ammunition, body armor and a full camouflage outfit.

A search warrant said Wagshol had an interest in mass shootings that dated to 2008, when he was a sixth-grader at Ponus Ridge Middle School. In November of that year, Wagshol threatened to shoot another student using his father’s guns after the other child’s talking made it hard for him to concentrate, the warrant said.

“I’ll make Virginia Tech look like nothing,” he muttered under his breath, the warrant said, in reference to the Virginia Tech shooting in which 33 people died the previous year. Wagshol’s case was later referred to the state Department of Children and Families.

Norwalk police said they received a tip about a Facebook post Wagshol made about having an interest in “committing a mass shooting” and learned he purchased parts online to make his own rifle.

Hours after Wagshol’s court arraignment on Aug. 16, a post was made on social media warning people of potential accomplices.

“It’s now rumored he’s got accomplices and they would be targeting local Walmarts,” the post read. “I’d avoid Walmarts this weekend and be careful while out in public.”

Later that day, Norwalk police said, “the information contained in the post is false. Wagshol remains incarcerated. Moreover, to date, the investigation has neither revealed a specifically targeted location nor an accomplice.”

In his witness statement to police, Wagshol said he drove to New Hampshire to “acquire 30-round magazines and ammunition to circumvent what I viewed as an unconstitutional restriction on the Second Amendment.”

Wagshol said he purchased four 30-round magazines and 120 rounds of 300 blackout ammunition for “firearm training,” according to his statement to police. Connecticut law defines a “large-capacity magazine” as one that accepts more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Transporting large-capacity magazines into the state is a felony. New Hampshire does not have magazine restrictions.

Police said a .40-caliber handgun and .22-caliber rifle found belonged to Wagshol’s father, but were accessible to him.

In addition to the weapons, police said they found a rifle scope with a laser, four firearm optic sites, a firearm flashlight, body armor with a titanium plate, a full camouflage outfit, a ballistic helmet, tactical gloves, a camouflage bag, computers, and numerous .40-caliber, .22-caliber and .300-blackout rounds of ammunition.

On Aug. 30, Wagshol was released after posting a $250,000 bond and he is scheduled to return to state Superior Court in Stamford on Sept. 20 for a pre-trial hearing.

Judge Kevin Randolph ordered him wear to wear a GPS ankle bracelet, remain under house arrest and to report to the office of adult probation in the courthouse every day, as well as undergo a mental health evaluation.