KENT, Ohio (AP) — The Kent State University freshman who prompted a campus lockdown when he shot himself in the hand during a domestic dispute remained jailed Thursday on a concealed weapon charge, campus police said.
The man fired only once Wednesday night during some sort of dispute with two female students, Police Chief John Peach said. No one else was hurt.
The suspect, 24-year-old Quavaugntay Tyler of Cleveland, told police he had a gun because he’d previously been an armed robbery victim, Peach said. Tyler was taken into custody at a hospital where he sought treatment for his wounded hand.
Peach said the exact reason Tyler fired the weapon was not immediately clear. Tyler then fled to a residence hall to ask a friend for help in hiding the weapon before he went to the hospital, Peach said. The weapon was found and the friend has not been charged, according to the chief.
Tyler has been the subject of a campus theft investigation and was on probation from a separate theft case in a different jurisdiction, Peach said. He described Tyler as being cooperative with investigators.
It took about two hours for authorities to give the all-clear Wednesday night after the university advised people to stay put while investigators searched for the suspect.
The school said Tyler is a student in criminology and justice studies. His case could be evaluated for possible action under the school’s student conduct rules separate from any criminal matter, said the dean of students, Dr. Shay Little.
Kent State is a public research university in Kent, a city of about 30,000 residents less than an hour’s drive southeast of Cleveland. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region, the Kent campus being the largest.
It is known for another shooting that occurred decades ago. On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on Kent State students protesting the war in Vietnam. Four students died and nine were injured in the shootings, which contributed to the change in the public’s attitude toward the war.
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