UPDATED: This piece was last updated on Sept. 3 at 1:15 p.m. CDT. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the owner was allegedly a VUPD officer; the owner is a third-party campus security officer.
An unattended handgun was found in a Blair School of Music bathroom on the evening of Sept. 2 at approximately 9:15 p.m. CDT. Upon investigation, the weapon was identified as belonging to a campus security officer who accidentally left the gun on the toilet seat after using the bathroom.
Senior Will Parrack said he spoke to a VUPD officer on the scene about the incident, saying the officer referred to the situation as a “very, very bad mistake.” According to Parrack, the VUPD officer with whom he spoke stated that the gun was identified via serial number as belonging to another VUPD officer. However, a statement from VUPS emailed to The Hustler at 10:20 a.m. CDT on Sept. 3 reads that the gun belonged to a third-party contracted CSO.
VUPS declined to comment on whether the gun was loaded when found and on repercussions the officer will face, if any. The statement states that a follow-up investigation regarding the situation is currently ongoing.
“VUPS located the weapon and was able to return it to the registered owner,” the statement reads. “Further, VUPS has determined the registered owner, a third-party contract security staff member, possessed no criminal intent in this matter.”
Sophomore Nathaniel York found the gun, and students immediately reported the incident to VUPD. He also shared an image of the gun with other Blair students in a GroupMe, to which students responded with fear and concern. The image shows that a magazine was in the gun.
“There were a few of us practicing on the second floor who didn’t know what to do,” Parrack said. “In our Friday recital period yesterday, there was a school-wide assembly and we spent an hour and a half talking about safety — run, hide, fight. I’m glad that we had the safety demonstration yesterday with an officer, as that informed our decisions about what to do in that scenario.”
Parrack added that he felt there was a lack of communication about the incident, causing students to be left in the dark about the situation.
“The lack of widespread communication by AlertVU or something telling all Blair kids that it was a mistake is concerning,” Parrack said. “The only form of communication at all was between us students in the Blair group chat.”
The incident comes less than a week after a campus shooting at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill on Aug. 29 in which one faculty member died.
This piece will be updated as more information becomes available.
