Public Safety officers temporarily detained three students who had been spotted in Rho parking lot with what appeared to be a firearm Wednesday evening.
The students, who were apprehended around 5:20 p.m., were filming for an upcoming episode of “The Randumb Show” using a realistic-looking gun prop that other students mistook for an actual weapon.
“DPS showed up and started screaming at them, ‘Get out of the car, get on the ground, drop the gun,’” said junior Kacie Scherler, who witnessed the event.
Officers had secured the weapon in question before the arrival of the LA Sheriff’s Deputies 20 minutes later. After approximately a half hour of interrogation with DPS officers and Deputy Director of Emergency Services Rob McKelvy, the situation was determined to be non-threatening. The students were later released after further questioning.
“The students were advised of the danger of the situation and were made aware that their actions demonstrated some poor judgment,” said Director of Public Relations Jerry Derloshon.
No arrests were made, and no charges will be filed. It is unknown whether the University will take any disciplinary action. The students involved were unable to comment, as the investigation is still ongoing, but “The Randumb Show” producer Matt Robinson released the following statement:
“‘The Randumb Show’ would like to apologize for any trouble or panic it may have caused while filming today. We are fully committed to the safety of the campus and working with the Department of Public Safety to ensure that something like this never happens again.”
After initial reports of the gun scare, administrators arrived to gauge the seriousness of the situation. While there was never any actual safety threat, the university response to the situation was equal to that of an actual shooting threat until the scene was ascertained to be safe.
“Especially in this modern day, since Virginia Tech, we take this kind of thing very seriously,” President Andrew K. Benton said. “If they had communicated with DPS beforehand, this kind of thing could have been avoided.”
