At 3:36 p.m. this afternoon 18 year old A&M-Commerce student Sravan Vemuri showed a plastic pellet gun in the Sam Rayburn Student Center cafeteria, according to UPD Crime Information Officer Jason Bone. The University Police Department entered the cafeteria a minute later and shut down the student center. No shots were fired and no one was injured. According to Bone, Vemuri was charged with disorderly conduct and has been released by UPD. Vemuri is on a Canadian visa.
Friend of the suspect, A&M-Commerce student Allen Duong said the suspect showed his weapon after he discovered his phone was missing and suspected it had been stolen.
“Apparently, [the suspect] had lost his phone,” Duong said. “In his blind supidness [sic], he flashed a BB gun. Someone saw it and called police.”
Students that were in the SRSC cafeteria said police officers entered the cafeteria quietly, and were carrying large guns.
“I saw a police officer with a big gun,” freshman Dwayne Chandler said. “They put this guy in handcuffs, then told us to get out.”
Freshman Shane Tolliver said he barely noticed the officers until they were up on the suspect.
“I looked up and saw two police officers with guns behind their back sneaking up,” he said. “I thought it was a joke, that’s how discrete it was.”
The shutdown also interrupted a meeting between President Dr. Dan Jones, Provost Dr. Larry Lemanski and other university officials being held upstairs.
The student center was opened an hour later at 4:30. Updates to follow.