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Authorities at the University of Texas at Arlington warned its students and people on campus earlier on Monday to be on the lookout for a man who could possibly carrying a rifle. It turns out later that the call was a false alarm as the guy in question was merely carrying a BB gun as prop for a class.
University police posted a message on Twitter just after noon at around 12:30 p.m. saying they were searching for a white man wearing a black shirt and jeans, with a black backpack that may have had a rifle sticking out of it. The tweet said the man had last been seen somewhere near the University Center, even as the tweet appeared to be truncated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">MavAlert! UTA Police located subject and his Red Rider BB Gun. No threat to campus. Resume normal operations.</p>— UT Arlington Police (@UTAPolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/UTAPolice/status/914911942531338242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The authorities advised the people on campus to shelter in place or avoid the area. The warning came at a time when the nation’s still reeling from the shock of the mass deadly mass shooting happening earlier in Las Vegas that killed over 50 people, and wounded over 400.
One social media user posted the message along with the photos of the man: “You can see why @UTAPolice immediately jumped to action. Some advice: don’t take a BB gun/gun-looking prop to class. Esp. on a day like this.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You can see why <a href="https://twitter.com/UTAPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UTAPolice</a> immediately jumped to action. Some advice: don't take a BB gun/gun-looking prop to class. Esp on a day like this. <a href="https://t.co/lRdFrDlDTG">pic.twitter.com/lRdFrDlDTG</a></p>— Sana Syed (@SanaSyedKI) <a href="https://twitter.com/SanaSyedKI/status/914917185901953025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The police made a breaking announcement before 1 p.m. saying they had located the man, who was carrying a Red Ryder BB gun. The said gun was just for a class project purpose. There was, after all, no threat to the campus.
The UT Arlington Police after the confirmation that the man, a student earlier sighted to be carrying a rifle, was only carrying a BB gun had tweeted clarifications, too. It posted the message: “@UTAPolice
have located the individual who was carrying a BB gun. Resume normal campus operations.” It also confirmed that it was just a BB gun.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Update: BB gun was to be used as a prop for class project.</p>— UT Arlington Police (@UTAPolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/UTAPolice/status/914915218798587906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It also thanked the community for reporting when they saw something suspicious and said they should keep up such concern, and being alert.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you to our community for saying something when you see something suspicious <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/communitythatcares?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#communitythatcares</a></p>— UT Arlington Police (@UTAPolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/UTAPolice/status/914915658860724225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
BB guns are a type of air gun designed to fire spherical metal projectiles similar to shot pellets of about the same size. While BB guns are still considered “toys”, and offer essentially little serious threat, it can still cause injuries like to the eyes. In rare cases, they can also cause death if the muzzle velocity is high and the person is shot at close range.
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Is he really a dumbass if he had a BB gun he needed to bring in for a class project? Chances are he didn't have a special bag or a case for it, and "there was a shooting today" might not work as an excuse to simply not bring what you need to class. It's not like he could have planned ahead around a shooting happening the day he needed to bring his BB gun as a prop for class.
The only thing he did that was really stupid was not throwing a jacket or a blanket over it, and he might have been running late or something, or maybe he just hadn't heard the news yet.