David Kyem, also known as David King, has been identified by his father as the primary CCSU suspect after three persons of interest were taken into custody on Monday following a lockdown at the school.
Kyem, a student at Central Connecticut State University, was arrested after he was carrying what appeared to be a handgun and a sword.
But Kyem was actually dressed in a Halloween costume, his father, professor Peter Kyem, told WFSB.
“My son has never held a gun and assured everything was OK,” Peter Kyem said.
David Kyem was at a party at the University of Connecticut for three days without a change of clothes, and when he got back to CCSU he was still wearing the costume.
Peter Kyem said that once he saw the video of a man in an orange shirt and handcuffs on the news, he knew it was his son.
David Kyem was charged with breach of peace and was released after posting $1,000 bond, reported NBC.
Police said no weapons were recovered and no shots were fired.
“We had no real threat to students or faculty,” said Chris Cervoni, chief of the campus police.
The status of the other two persons of interest is unclear.
The campus was on lockdown for around four hours, with dozens of police officers and SWAT team members searching the 182-acre campus south of Hartford for suspects. The lockdown was lifted around 3:15 p.m.
The lockdown was prompted after a report of a suspicious person carrying a gun on campus.
Jordan Governale, a 20-year-old junior from Farmington, said he walked by a man carrying a backpack and with a sword and sheath strapped to his back Monday morning. The man was wearing a mask, camouflage pants, knee pads and a vest resembling body armor, Governale said.
A minute later, he said, he saw police.
“At first I thought it was a Halloween costume. But after I saw the cops I thought it was some sort of threat,” he said. “It’s pretty scary. It’s pretty strange, unexpected.”
Kiara Gupton, a 21-year-old junior said she could see SWAT teams and dogs.
“I’m really just upset about this,” she said, recalling last year’s deadly school shooting in Newtown, about 30 miles away. “It’s scary. ... To see all these SWAT teams outside is really just overwhelming.”
An alert on the school’s website said: “Get inside buildings & Stay in place! Stay away from Windows. Police are on the Scene.”
Classes are expected to resume as normal on Tuesday after they were canceled for the remainder of Monday.
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