As the dust settles following Tuesday's lockdown at the University of New Haven, the focus is on determining why the arrested student was reportedly carrying a rifle near campus and what he was doing with two loaded handguns in his car.
Twenty-two-year-old William Dong of Fairfield, a commuter student at the University of New Haven, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and is in police custody. Dong sparked a campus-wide lockdown after someone called police to report seeing a man with a gun.
“A little after one 1 p.m, West Haven police received a 911 call from a concerned citizen saying they saw a male get out of a vehicle with a long gun in the area by Campbell Avenue and Ruben Street," said West Haven Police Sgt. David Tammaro. The caller told police the man was walking toward campus.
Police said several rifle magazines were recovered from a blue Toyota RAV4 parked near the ShopRite and McDonald's at 1131 Campbell Avenue. Responding officers "saw evidence" that Dong had gotten out of the Toyota with a long gun. It was towed Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities also recovered the rifle Dong was allegedly carrying, but police haven't said where that gun was found.
West Haven police said Dong was taken into custody on campus within 20 minutes of the call coming in. Charges are pending, according to police.
No shots were fired during the incident and no one was hurt, police said.
A student who said she was in biology class with Dong prior to the incident told NBC Connecticut he got up and left during a test and was later arrested near that same classroom building. The class began at 12:15 p.m. and the campus-wide alert went out about 30 minutes later, the student said.
It's not clear what Dong's intentions may have been, but friends have called the incident a "huge misunderstanding" and said Dong was often confused about where he was allowed to carry guns.
"It was a shock," said Thomas Wething, who went to high school with Dong and watched police search his home from across the street. "I was questioning it at first."
Dong's best friend, manual Pallares, spoke with NBC Connecticut over the phone Tuesday night.
"I'm pretty sure he's not going to go out and shoot people," Pallares said. "He frown on those people. He hates hearing about gun violence."
Pallares said Dong carries weapons every day to protect himself while working at an armored truck company that delivers money.
On Tuesday evening, West Haven police launched a search of Dong's home on Stratfield Road. Police left the house around 10 p.m. and said they would return Wednesday to continue collecting evidence.
Fairfield police said Dong has legal gun permits for two handguns, but haven't specified whether those are the same guns recovered today.
Fairfield Police say man detained at Univ. of New Haven has legal gun permit pic.twitter.com/ORz3GU9OFK
— George Colli (@GeorgeColli) December 3, 2013
Both in West Haven and in Fairfield, authorities are working to answer the question of why.
"We want to know what his intent was up there because we want to know whether there was an intent here," said Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara.
Dong lives with other family members, according to neighbors, who said they don't know the family personally and that there have never been any issues there.
But MacNamara said police have responded to the home before. He didn't elaborate but said the previous incidents were not as serious.
Police said they are not looking for any additional suspects.
All afternoon and evening classes at UNH were canceled, according to the university. The lockdown was lifted just before 5:30 p.m.
The nearby ShopRite was also locked down and the manager of the McDonald's earlier reported seeing FBI in the area, searching a car and gathering fingerprints.
Forest Elementary School and Carrigan Intermediate School were given a "shelter in place" order because of the situation, but the modified lockdown was lifted after school officials consulted with police.
Notre Dame High School, which is located near the school, was locked down, then dismissed students with the help of West Haven Police.
Students are being dismissed in an orderly fashion now with the help and security of WH Police. Thanks again to all for thoughts/prayers.
— Notre Dame HSWH (@notredamewh) December 3, 2013
UPDATE: Suspect is in custody, CONTINUE TO SHELTER IN PLACE until further instructions.
— U. of New Haven (@UNH) December 3, 2013
This situation comes about a week after a lockdown and massive police presence at Yale University just miles away.
In that case, police received a call from someone who reported that his roommate was on his way to the Ivy League school to shoot people. Part of the campus remained on lockdown for about seven hours and no threat was found.
Last month, Central Connecticut State University in New Britain was locked down after a man in a Halloween costume sparked a massive police presence.
Photo Credit: Marc Weilandics