A student who appeared intoxicated disrupted an afternoon class in the Hall of Languages when he waved around a pocket knife, resulting in his being taken into custody by the Department of Public Safety, said DPS Chief Tony Callisto.

 

The student has been removed from campus and is now facing action by the Office of Judicial Affairs for violation of the Student Code of Conduct, Callisto said.

 

The student wandered into the class at around 2 p.m. and sat at one of the desks, Callisto said. Callisto said he could not specify which classroom the student entered.

 

The student was not enrolled in the class, but knew someone in it, said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president of public affairs.

 

Callisto said he could not release the name of the student under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects student education records.

 

The student began yelling at the students in the class and then took a knife out of his pocket, Callisto said.

 

‘He never threatened anyone with the knife,’ Callisto said.

 

Students in the class almost immediately called DPS to report the incident, Callisto said. They evacuated their classroom, but not under DPS orders. No one else in the building evacuated, he said.

 

The first DPS officer arrived on the scene within 30 seconds, and the student, who had exited the classroom, was found and taken into custody within a minute later, Callisto said.

 

Because of the quick response time, no Orange Alert, Syracuse University’s emergency alert system, was sent, Callisto said.

 

‘The only time we issue an Orange Alert is if there is an immediate threat to the community,’ he said. ‘We got to the scene and had the suspect in custody so quickly, there was no threat to the community.’

 

Through interviews on the scene with several students and a faculty member, DPS determined the student did not make any threats and did not break any laws, so the Syracuse Police Department was not called, and the student was not arrested, Callisto said. The student was questioned by DPS and released.

 

The student did, however, the break the Code of Conduct and will not be allowed back on campus until the matter is sorted by Judicial Affairs, Callisto said. Callisto said he did not know how long Judicial Affairs action will take or what the sentence will be. Typically, this kind of violation of the Code of Conduct could result in anything from mandated counseling to an extended suspension.

 

rhkheel@syr.edu

Published on September 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm