Two people were arrested Thursday afternoon in Thrailkill Hall after Belmont University Campus Security officers received a call about a suspicious person.
When the officers arrived on the scene around 2 p.m., they were unable to identify the suspicious person and called the Metro Police Department for assistance.
The call to Belmont security came when students noticed the suspect in the lobby of TK, telling people that he was not a student and making other statements that concerned the residents, according to campus security.
When the police arrived, they went up to the room of the Belmont student hosting the suspect. After searching the suspect’s possessions the officers found a loaded gun in his backpack.
Both the suspect and the student were arrested and charged with possession of a loaded gun on school grounds.
Chief of Campus Security Pat Cunningham said that this situation was a good example of their bystander intervention program, No Excuses: Bruins Take a Stand.
This program encourages students to be alert and to call campus security officers if they witness something or someone suspicious.
“It empowers the individual,” said Chief Cunningham. “It involves seeing something happening, realizing it may be suspicious and taking action.”
Chief Cunningham thanked the proactive student who called in the suspicious person, for their help in resolving the events at TK.
While the resident advisors at TK were not at liberty to disclose any more information on the events that occurred, but RA Sierra Griffin did say that fellow RA Brock Burger deserved thanks for his handling of the situation.
“He was the real MVP,” said Griffin.
This article was written by Spencer Paluch