A suspect in a late Sunday-early morning Monday incident on campus involving an SDSU student has been arrested and detained, according to Chief Tim Heaton of the University Police Department (UPD).
The incident is still under investigation by a police department not in Brookings because the suspect, who is not an SDSU Student, was arrested in another city, Heaton said. The victim is an SDSU student who lives on campus.
“I can’t talk about the arrest,” Heaton said. “The individual and the (threat) all occurred not there in Brookings. It’s all out of town.”
Around 11 p.m. Sunday, UPD issued a campus-wide emergency alert asking folks to be on the lookout for a “threatening individual.” The suspect was described as a white male standing around 5-feet-8-inches with a slender build and shaggy, brown hair. It was also said the suspect was driving a 2020 Silver Ford Fusion, and police warned at the time he may have a gun.
On Tuesday, Heaton said there was never a gun on campus related to this incident. In fact, the suspect does not own a gun, Heaton said.
A second alert was sent out around 5 a.m. Monday, saying the suspect was located and there was no longer an “active threat to the individual or SDSU campus.”
The threats were made by the suspect to someone they had a relationship with, said Heaton.
“And so, it was a relationship kind of (thing), an angry type of situation,” Heaton said.
After threats were made to her, the victim in the case showed up at the UPD building at about 10 p.m. to report the incident.
“The (suspect) said they were going to come to campus and shoot her,” Heaton said. “So, we didn’t know where the individual (suspect) was, so we put out the notification to look out for this person. She was still here when I put out the emergency message.”
Heaton and four officers responded to the incident on Sunday night. Besides issuing the warning, he and the officers patrolled campus looking for the suspect, Heaton said.
The incident triggered reactions on various social media platforms that continued through Monday. Posts about the original emergency alert garnered 240 likes and 28 comments. Many users also expressed some confusion and fear on platforms like YikYak.
Heaton said that the department has been told the victim is okay and no longer afraid.
