The lockdown has been lifted at the University of New Haven after a student was found with two loaded handguns on the West Haven campus this afternoon.
Police have identified the suspect as William Dong of Fairfield, a commuter student at the University of New Haven. He was arrested Tuesday afternoon and is in police custody.
No shots were been fired and no one was hurt, police said. It's not clear at this point what Dong's intentions may have been.
Police said two loaded handguns were recovered from the blue Toyota RAV4 that Dong was seen exiting. The rifle he was reportedly carrying was also recovered, but was not in Dong's possession at the time.
A campus-wide lockdown was issued around 1 p.m. The threat level is reduced, police said, but the lockdown remains in order for the main campus as a precaution.
All afternoon and evening classes at UNH have been canceled, according to the university. The lockdown was lifted just before 5:30 p.m.
Police said they received a call at 1:10 p.m. reporting a man with what appeared to be a rifle in a parking lot of the ShopRite and McDonald's at 1131 Campbell Avenue. The caller told police the man was walking toward campus.
“A little after one 1 p.m, West Haven police received a 911 call from a concerned citizen saying they saw a male get out of a vehicle with a long gun in the area by Campbell Avenue and Ruben Street," said West Haven Police Sgt. David Tammaro.
Responding officers "saw evidence" that Dong had gotten out of the Toyota with a long gun. The car was vacant and there were several rifle magazines in the car, said Tammaro.
The car was towed Tuesday afternoon.
West Haven police said Dong was taken into custody on campus within 20 minutes of the call coming in. His charges have not yet been made public.
The lockdown was lifted earlier Tuesday evening for North and South campus, but the main campus remained under a shelter-in-place order.
In Fairfield police officers have surrounded Dong's home on Stratfield Road and said the student has legal gun permits for two handguns. It's not known if the permits had been obtained for the guns found in the Toyota.
Fairfield Police say man detained at Univ. of New Haven has legal gun permit pic.twitter.com/ORz3GU9OFK
— George Colli (@GeorgeColli) December 3, 2013
Why the student had the guns at the school remains unknown.
"We want to know what his intent was up there because we want to know whether there was in intent here," Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara said.
The student lives with other family members, according to neighbors who said they do not know them and there have never been any issues in the 10 to 15 years the family has lived at the home.
School officials earlier this afternoon asked other students to stay away from campus as a methodical search takes place and said a decision will be made at 4 p.m. for evening classes.
“UPDATE: Police are conducting building searches at this time. All reports are that there is one suspect which is in custody however a methodical search is taking place. Continue to SHELTER IN PLACE until further instruction," the school posted on its Facebook page around 2 p.m.
Police said they are not looking for any additional suspects.
The ShopRite was locked down and the manager of the McDonald's earlier reported seeing FBI in the area, searching a car and gathering fingerprints.
One University of New Haven student who NBC Connecticut spoke with by phone reported seeing an increased police presence on campus.
Forest Elementary School and Carrigan Intermediate School were given a "shelter in place" order because of the situation, but the modified lockdown was lifted after school officials consulted with police.
Notre Dame High School, which is located near the school, was locked down, but has since dismissed students with the help of West Haven Police.
Students are being dismissed in an orderly fashion now with the help and security of WH Police. Thanks again to all for thoughts/prayers.
— Notre Dame HSWH (@notredamewh) December 3, 2013
UPDATE: Suspect is in custody, CONTINUE TO SHELTER IN PLACE until further instructions.
— U. of New Haven (@UNH) December 3, 2013
This situation is developing around a week after a lockdown and massive police presence at Yale University, which is located about just miles away.
In that case, police received a call from someone who reported that his roommate was on his way to the Ivy League school to shoot people. Part of the campus remained on lockdown for about seven hours and no threat was found.
Last month, there was also a lockdown at CCSU in New Britain after a man in a Halloween costume sparked a massive police presence.
Photo Credit: Marc Weilandics