CLOSE CALL: Florida Man Arrested in Possession of 8 Firearms, 3,000 Rounds of Ammo, and “Homicidal Writings”

JUPITER, FL – Florida police arrested a potentially unhinged man who, upon being taken into custody, was found to be in possession of multiple firearms, ammunition, and alleged “homicidal” and “suicidal” writings that painted a picture to authorities of an individual who potentially posed a serious risk to the community.

Chapin Huffman was taken into custody after the car he was traveling to St. Petersburg in ran out of gas. Police found him standing outside of his vehicle on Indiantown Road under the Interstate 95 overpass, and quickly discovered five loaded semi-automatic handguns, three rifles, and 3,000 rounds of ammunition in his car.

In addition, police also stated that they discovered a notebook allegedly filled with writings by Huffman that were both “suicidal and homicidal in nature.” 

“Huffman also wrote about killing a lot of people by running through a crowd and stabbing as many people as possible,” the police report said.

According to former FBI agent John MacVeigh – who has extensively studied the suspect’s arrest report – Huffman’s capture at the time possibly prevented yet another of the country’s mass shooting events that have become all-too-common these days, as the suspect possessed all of the telltale signs.

“In law enforcement, you’re lucky if you can find these things ahead of time,” he said. “And you’re not playing ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ by saying, ‘Oh my God, we should have known’ or ‘Someone should have known this person was like that.’”  

“Who just goes out and buys eight guns? That doesn’t make any sense,” MacVeigh added. 

Authorities say that in his notebook, Huffman had written that he anticipated murdering at least five people, claiming that “My killing spree would be unlike any other.” MacVeigh noted that the suspect clearly had the intent and the means to carry out his threatened killings, and praised Jupiter police for capturing the suspect before the community found out if he was serious or not.

“Would he do something about it? We don’t know. But at first glance, it does look pretty bad,” MacVeigh said. “Just because someone writes about mass shootings doesn’t mean they’re going to do those kinds of crimes. And if someone has eight guns in their car, it’s a big red flag that they now have the tools to do this.”