On Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015, at around 1:30 a.m., an incident occurred in the second floor hallway of Regents Park South at the University of Hartford.
Allegedly, a group of students in the hallway saw a young male walking down the hallway when the young man proceeded to drop his cell phone.
The group of students in the hallway laughed and the young man asked them “What did you say?” to which the student who reported the incident responded with “What did you hear?”
After squabbling for a few moments, the young man removed a utility box cutter from where he had it stashed in his pocket. He apparently proceeded to open and close it, as if threatening the other students.
The floor’s resident assistant then walked down the hall and the young man left.
He reportedly walked down the south hallway and left the building through the stairwell to the outside that is located in Regents South.
An email describing this incident, including a physical description of the suspect, was sent out to students shortly after 10 p.m. on the same day by the University’s Department of Public Safety.
The incident had not actually been reported until 1:05 p.m. that day, as reported in the email from Public Safety.
Public Safety Lt. Chris Lyons stated, “The incident with the box cutter was not reported for approximately 12 hours and that reporting delay caused a delay in reporting the incident to the community.”
He emphasized the importance of reporting incidents such as this in a timely manner so as to facilitate investigation as soon as possible.
As of Monday, Sept. 28, the suspect was identified by Public Safety.
“The student is being disciplined through student conduct and will face serious consequences for his actions,” Lyons stated.
The Public Safety department then sent out another email explaining that the incident was resolved with the identification of the offender, and that they greatly appreciated the campus community’s help in resolving the issue.
“It makes me nervous that a potentially dangerous person can be walking around campus, and PS might not know for hours,” junior Michael Desiderio said. “If PS doesn’t know, then it’s likely that the students who live here don’t either.”
Members of the campus community are strongly urged to notify Public Safety if they have any concerns regarding suspicious activity around campus.
They can the emergency number at 860-768-7777.
Other safety instructions from Public Safety include never propping doors used to enter or exit any residence halls and always taking care to lock rooms when leaving.