In response to last week's firearm incident that occurred at Charles Commons, security officers held a public conference with Hopkins residents on Tuesday evening.
Jim Wang was arrested on Feb. 5th at 7:50 p.m. for the unauthorized possession of a handgun outside Charles Commons.
A subsequent search of Wang's residence found ammunition.
Lieutenant Steve Ossmus of Campus Safety and Security recounted the incident and provided additional details to the dozen or so residents in attendance.
Benjamin Rodriguez, one of the off-duty Baltimore Police officers hired by Hopkins to patrol North Charles Street, received a call on a Thursday evening to assist a junior resident on the fourth floor of Charles Commons, who claimed that he had thrown his retainer down the trash chute and needed someone to unlock the chute from the outside.
Once the officer opened the chute, Wang bent over to retrieve the trash bag from the chute that contained the retainer. The officer noticed what appeared to be the handle of gun in the waistband of Wang's pants.
Wang initially claimed that the object was a pellet pistol, but when the officer told Wang to let him hold the pistol, it was found instead to be a .45 caliber handgun.
The officer placed Wang under arrest for a misdemeanor handgun violation.
Ossmus said that Wang had bought the weapon legally in Texas and had it shipped to Baltimore.
Wang was taken to the Baltimore City jail where he remained until his parents posted his bail. He accompanied his parents back to Texas, where he is currently residing.
Ossmus stated that Wang has been suspended from Hopkins, pending an official hearing.
According to Ossmus, in light of the Virginia Tech shootings, campus officers have become more observant of "warning signs" that might suggest a student could be potentially dangerous.
However, Ossmus said that Wang did not demonstrate any of these warning signs.
"He didn't have any of the red flags or benchmarks of somebody who would be considered a troubled student," he said. "He was an average student."
