September 26, 2007
A student with a rifle in a plastic bag was apprehended on the campus of St. John's University in Queens at around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Omesh Hiraman, 22, was caught by a public safety officer and a police cadet, quickly disarmed of a 50-caliber Wolf rifle, and turned over to the NYPD. Police sources say Hiraman, a freshman at the university, had a mask in his possession at the time of his arrest but was not wearing it.
The cadet, Christopher Benson, 21, says he followed Hiraman to a nearby building, where he later helped police restrain him. Benson says Hiraman looked suspicious from the start.
"I always think about what they tell always me, stay back observe, make as many observations as you can," said Benson. "But by then he turned the corner, action needed to be taken, and I took it."
"We are all indebted to one very observant and very brave police cadet," said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
No shots were fired and no injuries were reported.
Hiraman is being held at the 107th Precinct. Police say they have not been able to ascertain whether or not the gun was loaded. For this type of gun to be loaded it needs both black powder charge and a .50-caliber round. While ESU says it has the powder charge, the only way to determine whether it has the round is by firing the weapon or dismantling it.
Local news sources are reporting that Hiraman is of Guyanese descent and has a history of mental health problems.
The university alerted students by posting a public service advisory on their website. Officials also sent out campus-wide text messages to students' cell phones – an emergency response system they added earlier this month in response to the April 16th shooting rampage at Virginia Tech where a student killed 32 people before turning the gun on himself.
“It’s a new system that’s just been implemented and it was very helpful,” said Dominic Scianna of Saint John’s University. “Students got the text messaging very, very quickly and started alerting each other.”
“I go to school here everyday and it’s not safe to come to school; it’s crazy,” said one student.
The university campus – in the Jamaica Estates section of Queens – was flooded by emergency responders who conducted an extensive search of all buildings.
Students, faculty, and staff were finally allowed to leave the campus at around 5:30 p.m., hours after officials had told them to stay inside their buildings until further notice. Students who were not physically on campus at the time of the incident were asked to stay off campus until the issue is resolved.
All classes at the school were cancelled for the remainder of the evening.
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