DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) —Wright State University police responded to reports of someone with a gun on campus Friday. In the end, it was not an active shooter, or a real gun, but students were shaken by what happened.
“Honestly, it just makes me not even want to go inside,” student Mellanie De Goes Lima said. “It’s definitely concerning when you hear about any type of gun on campus, whether it’s real or not.”
Wright State University police received reports of someone on campus with a gun around 11:15 a.m. They identified the person as a male student, spotted The Hangar. Students told police the man was exhibiting odd behavior.
Campus police headquarters were not far from the area and found the student with an unloaded training rifle. They quickly got the situation under control.
De Goes Lima and other students were confused as to what was going on, and they quickly barricaded the door.
“We were just trying to figure out what to do to block the door,” she said. “I remember I said, let’s turn off the lights so it looks like there’s nobody here.”
Police talked to the student, and he is not allowed back on campus. Wright State’s policy does not allow people to carry any type of firearm on campus.
Police say the gun was a training dummy rifle used in exercises for ROTC in parade marches, adding that the student does not have any connection to the ROTC program at Wright State.
De Goes Lima said she is happy nothing happened but is uneased by the situation going forward.
“Thank God, nothing happened tragically like that,” she said. “It just puts a bad taste in my mouth. It makes me feel a little bit uneasy.”
The incident is still under investigation, but Wright State University if working with the Greene County Prosecutor on any pending charges forthcoming.
