By Parveen Chopra, IANS
New York : A student of Indian origin from Guyana has been arrested from the St. John’s University campus in New York for carrying a gun.
There was no violence. But with the memory of Virginia Tech massacre early this year still fresh, the incident caused a mild scare Wednesday afternoon. The university campus in Queens was locked down for three hours while police searched for a possible second gunman before saying there wasn’t one.
Police identified the arrested freshman as 22-year-old Omeash Hiraman. They recovered from him a .50 calibre rifle, which holds only one round of ammunition and uses black powder instead of cartridges. The weapon was kept in a black bag along with a mask.
His lawyer described the gun as “kind of like a Dick Cheney hunting rifle”.
Omeash’s father Pat Hiraman said the incident was “a misunderstanding” and his son, who lives at home near the campus, “would never harm anyone”.
He said the heavy medication his son was on since a recent back surgery could have unsettled him.
Others who had known the student agreed he seemed a little troubled, but not the violent sort. A St. John’s student, who saw Omeash being overpowered by a campus security guard, said if he wanted he could have fired.
Police said the charges were pending.
The scene at the campus soon after the incident underlined how campus security has been streamlined in the US since April, when a Korean gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech, the worst on-campus shootout in the country.
Instead of fleeing out of classrooms and on the street, the students at St. John’s were promptly instructed via SMSs to stay where they were.