Posted on 09/26/2007 5:05:40 PM PDT by peggybac
NEW YORK -- A St. John's University freshman was arrested on the Queens campus with a rifle and President Bush, police said Wednesday.
Police sources said the suspect, Omesh Hiraman, 22, told police that he was acting alone and walked across campus with the gun. Hiraman did not give any reason why, police said.
St. John's University was locked down and classes were cancelled as a result.
A campus security officer, a student and an NYPD cadet taking courses at Queens’s campus tackled Hiraman.
Police said the NYPD cadet, Christopher Benson, was sitting on a bench on campus when he saw Hiraman walking by, wearing the Bush mask and carrying the rifle in a black garbage bag.
Police said Benson followed Hiraman until he saw a campus security officer. Benson then tacked Hiraman, and security managed to get the gun away, police said.
Police sources said Hiraman was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, camouflage pants, and the mask.
Campus-security video shows the Hiraman was on campus for a short time before being captured.
Nobody was hurt in the incident but the campus went into lockdown in mid afternoon as students furiously sent text messages to each other and their parents about the gunman, law enforcement sources said.
Hiraman had been carrying the weapon in a bag, according to a posting on the St. John's University website. Police sources said the gun was a front-loading, .40-or .50-caliber Wolf rifle.
Police want to know whether Hiraman was on any medications, according to a law enforcement source, and whether he had stopped taking them.
Police said Hiraman was wearing a costume mask that appeared to be of President Bush. Officials said he cut the mask off below the eyes.
Police launched a massive response, sending in heavily armed emergency service units and flying a police helicopter overhead the campus of the Catholic University on Union Turnpike in Jamaica, Queens.
St. John's had recently upgraded its security and communications systems and was sending warning messages about the gunman at 2:30 p.m.
The St. John's University Web site issued this advisory:
"A male with a rifle in a bag was apprehended on St. John's Queens campus today. Public Safety officers quickly disarmed the suspect and have turned him over to NYPD. Additional information will be forthcoming as it becomes available."
Wednesday afternoon, a press release from St. John's read: "At this time, the NYPD has a heavy presence on the Queens campus and are conducting an extensive and thorough search of all buildings and facilities. Students have been instructed to stay inside their classrooms and buildings until further notice."
Investigators searched Hirman’s parents’ East Elmhurst home Wednesday and found a case that the gun was kept in and black powder residue.
It’s unclear if the weapon was loaded or in working order.
Hiraman was questioned by police at the 107th Precinct in Queens. There is no word yet on any charges.
He had a rifle and president Bush?
Wow..that’s a neat trick.
This is two...
They’re trying to frighten the college kids and get them to begin protesting the war.
A good sign we’re winning in Iraq...
22 year old freshman. Must be a late bloomer, or maybe he’s been locked up for some time.
***Hiraman had been carrying the weapon in a bag, according to a posting on the St. John’s University website. Police sources said the gun was a front-loading, .40-or .50-caliber Wolf rifle. ***
A muzzle loader.
So what did President Bush have to say about it? Or maybe was it a Bush mask?
What is a wolf 40 cal rifle?
BOTH are illegal in the eyes of the Left.
A muzzle loader, you can order those out of a magazine, not that it makes them any less lethal, it just takes a while to reload.
Must be a liberal school. I bet he wouldn't have been arrested if he had Ted Kennedy with him instead.
Sounds like an assault rifle. Probably an automatic, as well - as in it would automatically discharge if it was loaded, primed, and the trigger was pulled.
You can bet the news writer is clueless. I was thinking a black powder rifle or the Italian "lupira", which is a coach type shotgun.
Omesh? That sounds Swedish, right?
I saw this story posted a little while ago. The “50 cal. Wolff blackpodwer rifle”.........was said to be the one pictured on the CBS affiliates web site showed a modern 50 cal. semi auto rifle.
Got it wrong again! The best I’ve heard of was a year or two ago where the firearm was described as being “A semi automatic revolver”
Google “semi-automatic revolver”, there have been a couple.
i have a 50 cal assault. but it is from WW 1 (TURKEY )
Think the modern version of Davey Crockett or Daniel Boone. The Wolf is an affordable, modern cap and ball rifle available from BassPro and Cabela’s as well as some WalMart and Meijers chain stores.
(Larger picture at link below)
This one is a .50 cal, and goes for $149.99 at Scott Outdoor Sports
It's not legally (for federal purposes) a firearm, so the usual "gun control" laws don't apply. You can order it shipped direct to your home, just like you could any other firearm before 1968 (other than machine guns).
From Guyana I think
There is a Wolf .50 muzzle loader. "Front-loading" and mention of black powder seems to indicate a muzzle loader. Not my idea of an assault weapon. Maybe a real reporter will be able to tell us.
For a muzzle loader they already had in possession of the campus cops? What a bunch of wusses. (Probably a better Yiddish word for what they are, but I don't know much Yiddish).
Note that the Professional Journalists at WNBC misspelled "canceled". :)
I believe both first and last names are India type Indian, possibly from the region around Bombay/Mumbai. That area does have a large Muslim Population, but I think those are Hindu names. Maybe he wanted to shoot Ahamanutjob while he was in town? If so, it was a poor choice of tool for the job, although it would do the job if he did his part.
That's not to say that he isn't from Guyana. I knew a guy that was third generation from somewhere in that area that had an Indian name and was as Indian in appearance as another guy I knew with the same first name (Kumar) who was from India.
St. John’s appeared to be a great school to me. Their B-ball program has been great for years. It is very Roman Catholic and it is obviously proud of its Roman Catholic roots.
The long and the short of it is that I would be proud of any kid of mine who went there and graduated. It’s Roman Catholic roots are much more conservative in the parts of life that matter than 90% of colleges in the USA.
Good man. Who knows what he prevented with his courage and initiative. I hope someone at NYPD gave him a promotion (or at least bought him a beer.)
The school administration there is definatly not lefty, though members of the faculty are, but the administration is a bit more conservative then most schools.
Side Joke, the president of the University, Father Harrington is a dead ringer for Dick Cheney, he even talks like him.
Had he taken Bush hostage or was the President carrying the rifle. This is hugh and series all at the same time.
Think Columbine, as in more then one shooter.
So, yea, you lock down the campus, you have to be concerned that there might be more then one shooter.
Sidenote: Most, if not all of campus security, is former cops (mostly retired). One of my friends whose dad was one of the guards, told me that his dad always carried a gun (concealed), I don't know what the rules are, and they probably aren't allowed to, but I have no doubt that a few of those guys are packing heat.
Big theological span between St. Johns and Baylor.
Was President Bush in the bag too?
I got that he was from Guyana because a student at the school posted on a BBB that he was...but the Bush mask cut in half is weird!
You ain't kidding.
Free Republic had a thread describing a gun as a "45 Auto Revolver" which was correct. It was a revolver chambered for 45 Auto cartridges. We had such a good time on the thread that it convinced me to buy a real semi-automatic revolver. Betty is holding one on my profile page. It would have been funny if they were chambered for 45's. Then it would be a 45 Auto semi-automatic revolver.
My personal favorite is the 40mm semi automatic pistol. I don’t care if I have to pay a $200 tax, I want one of those. I’m not sure who I will get to fire it for me, though.
http://www.stjohns.edu/emergency.
What did he do that was illegal? is carrying a rifle on campus now a no no?
I remember that I used to bring my Shotgun to school in the back window of my truck. Sometimes I carried it in a case or bag to my dorm. Sometimes I wore the knights of busch on my head as well, much like these good students. 
But that was a long time ago.
(Goethals & 168th St.)
Ping.
You have to see him in a suit and tie.
To be honest, I don't think 95% of folks would know the differance.
That said, he is a pretty nice guy, though my fraternity and him had a few problems.
LOL.
He is also a strong pro-lifer, and pretty conservative. I used to chuckle when he gave speeches, he has all of Cheneys mannerisms down, and almost seems like he is impersonating him (and doing a darn good job to boot).
Probably, it is NYC.
That said, only an idiot would assume no one is armed on campus.
They do have ROTC, they do have police cadets as students, and campus security is made up of mostly retired or former cops (some of whom I know for a fact, regardless of school rules or laws) carry firearms.
The odds of a "columbine" type attack, are slim, mostly because "some folks" look the other way which does make for a safer campus.
What is a real reporter? A FReeper? A Pajamahadeen? lol You must have because there aren't any real reporters in the Old Media.
Hmmm... Have you ever seen the two of them in the same place at the same time?
LOL!
That would confuse enough gun owners who were not aware of the type, but the journalists would lose it.
For a muzzle loader they already had in possession of the campus cops? What a bunch of wusses
Translation = 'Assume fetal position and wet yourself until until either A: a bad guy comes round to kill you, or B: LE comes to make sure your complying with A:
One of our jokes was that Dick Cheneys undisclosed location of hiding was SJU, and that his cover was President of the University.
Seeing Father Harrington, face to face, it is very very hard to tell the differance between him and Cheney, especially when he talks.
Under New York (and Federal) Law, that muzzle loader isn’t a “firearm” or “rifle.”
They can’t get him for illegal possession or carry. Maybe for some kind of stalking threat, comparable to if he had a chef’s knife or a bit stick.
This guy may not have committed any crime at all.
New York statutory definitions:
§ 265.00 Definitions.
As used in this article and in article four hundred, the following
terms shall mean and include:
3. “Firearm” means (a) any pistol or revolver; or (b) a shotgun having
one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length; or (c) a rifle
having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length; or (d)
any weapon made from a shotgun or rifle whether by alteration,
modification, or otherwise if such weapon as altered, modified, or
otherwise has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches; or (e)
an assault weapon. For the purpose of this subdivision the length of the
barrel on a shotgun or rifle shall be determined by measuring the
distance between the muzzle and the face of the bolt, breech, or
breechlock when closed and when the shotgun or rifle is cocked; the
overall length of a weapon made from a shotgun or rifle is the distance
between the extreme ends of the weapon measured along a line parallel to
the center line of the bore. Firearm does not include an antique
firearm.
11. “Rifle” means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and
intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and
made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic
cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for
each single pull of the trigger.
15. “Loaded firearm” means any firearm loaded with ammunition or any
firearm which is possessed by one who, at the same time, possesses a
quantity of ammunition which may be used to discharge such firearm.
16. “Certified not suitable to possess a self-defense spray device, a
rifle or shotgun” means that the director or physician in charge of any
hospital or institution for mental illness, public or private, has
certified to the superintendent of state police or to any organized
police department of a county, city, town or village of this state, that
a person who has been judicially adjudicated incompetent, or who has
been confined to such institution for mental illness pursuant to
judicial authority, is not suitable to possess a self-defense spray
device, as defined in section 265.20 of this article, or a rifle or
shotgun.
§ 265.06 Unlawful possession of a weapon upon school grounds.
It shall be unlawful for any person age sixteen or older to knowingly
possess any air-gun, spring-gun or other instrument or weapon in which
the propelling force is a spring, air, piston or CO2 cartridge in or
upon a building or grounds, used for educational purposes, of any
school, college or university, without the written authorization of such
educational institution.
Unlawful possession of a weapon upon school grounds is a violation.
§ 265.08 Criminal use of a firearm in the second degree.
A person is guilty of criminal use of a firearm in the second degree
when he commits any class C violent felony offense as defined in
paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 70.02 and he either:
(1) possesses a deadly weapon, if the weapon is a loaded weapon from
which a shot, readily capable of producing death or other serious injury
may be discharged; or
(2) displays what appears to be a pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun,
machine gun or other firearm.
Criminal use of a firearm in the second degree is a class C felony.
§ 265.01 Criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth
degree when:
(1) He possesses any firearm, electronic dart gun, electronic stun
gun, gravity knife, switchblade knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal
knuckle knife, cane sword, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, metal knuckles,
chuka stick, sand bag, sandclub, wrist-brace type slingshot or
slungshot, shirken or “Kung Fu star”; or
(2) He possesses any dagger, dangerous knife, dirk, razor, stiletto,
imitation pistol, or any other dangerous or deadly instrument or weapon
with intent to use the same unlawfully against another; or
(3) He or she knowingly has in his or her possession a rifle, shotgun
or firearm in or upon a building or grounds, used for educational
purposes, of any school, college or university, except the forestry
lands, wherever located, owned and maintained by the State University of
New York college of environmental science and forestry, or upon a school
bus as defined in section one hundred forty-two of the vehicle and
traffic law, without the written authorization of such educational
institution; or
(4) He possesses a rifle or shotgun and has been convicted of a felony
or serious offense; or
(5) He possesses any dangerous or deadly weapon and is not a citizen
of the United States; or
(6) He is a person who has been certified not suitable to possess a
rifle or shotgun, as defined in subdivision sixteen of section 265.00,
and refuses to yield possession of such rifle or shotgun upon the demand
of a police officer. Whenever a person is certified not suitable to
possess a rifle or shotgun, a member of the police department to which
such certification is made, or of the state police, shall forthwith
seize any rifle or shotgun possessed by such person. A rifle or shotgun
seized as herein provided shall not be destroyed, but shall be delivered
to the headquarters of such police department, or state police, and
there retained until the aforesaid certificate has been rescinded by the
director or physician in charge, or other disposition of such rifle or
shotgun has been ordered or authorized by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
(7) He knowingly possesses a bullet containing an explosive substance
designed to detonate upon impact.
(8) He possesses any armor piercing ammunition with intent to use the
same unlawfully against another.
Criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree is a class A
misdemeanor.
I don’t see what law has been broken.
Neither do I, but they'll find *something* I'm sure.
Causing a mass case of the vapors or something like that.
I think I hve read that there are a good number of ROPers in Guyana
The news (WNBC) is all atwitter that he bought it at a local retail store for $170.
I suspect that if it can be sold in NEW YORK CITY, with no background check, waiting period, etc, etc, it's not a legally a gun, even in NEW YORK CITY.
Be pretty funny if they have to drop all the charges, except perhaps the "numerous violations of New York City's Administrative Code".
Wonder what they would do to a 14 year old, bicycling down one of their streets with a shotgun over the handlebars? That's what I did at 14. More than once, and in a "Gang" too. I think there were 5 or 6 of us. That would have been 1964, fall, pheasant season, second largest city in the state, then as now.
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