Campus police confiscated an unloaded rifle found in Sierra Madre Residence Hall on Tuesday night, according to University Police Department (UPD) Chief George Hughes.
The gun, a 22-caliber rifle, was found after police received a tip that a student was keeping a firearm in the residence hall, Hughes said. According to Penalty Code 626.9(h), it is illegal for any individual to bring a firearm onto a school campus without a concealed weapons permit.
UPD obtained permission from one of the room’s occupants to enter the premises, at which point they searched the room, he said. Police found the unloaded rifle, as well as ammunition, in the room.
“The roommate did not know that the gun was there,” Hughes said. “The owner of the gun and resident of the room was not there. He was off campus, actually out of town at the time.”
UPD confiscated the firearm and interviewed the rifle’s owner — an unidentified male student — once he returned to campus on Wednesday, Hughes said.
“There is nothing to lead us to believe that he was hoping to do anything negative to campus,” Hughes said.
Charges have not been made on the student yet, though they will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office on Friday, Hughes said. If approved, the student could face anything from probation to jail time for the crime.
Hughes said he hopes to have the investigation completed within the week.
Kaytlyn Leslie contributed to this staff report.