Two Gonzaga University students are facing expulsion because one of them produced a gun in response to an aggressive, possibly homeless man who was violently demanding money and tried to enter their apartment.
Administration found seniors Erik Fagan and Daniel McIntosh in violation of a blanket policy outlawing guns in all university-owned buildings, reports The Spokesman-Review. Their Gonzaga-owned apartment at 207 E. Sinto Ave. is located a couple blocks from the urban campus.
The incident occurred on Thursday, Oct. 24 a little after 10 p.m. Fagan, 21, had just bid goodbye to a friend. There was a knock on the door. Fagan opened it to see the apparently homeless man, who wanted money.
Fagan said he offered the guy some food and a blanket, but cash was out of the question.
The vagrant then became belligerent. Fagan said the man — a six-time felon — showed him an ankle bracelet and said, “You don’t want to do this,” according to The Spokesman-Review.
There was a tussle. The man tried to break into the apartment. Fagan yelled to his McIntosh for help.
The roomie did not disappoint. McIntosh, 23, appeared with a 10-mm Glock pistol and convinced the man that it would be a good idea to leave.
“I come down with the gun at a low ready, as per how I’ve been trained,” McIntosh told the Spokane broadsheet.
“As soon as he sees me, he decides he doesn’t want to deal with me. So he takes off.”
McIntosh noted that he has a concealed weapons permit for his gun.
After the episode, the students called the Spokane police and Gonzaga’s security guards. Both arrived after a few minutes. There was some kind of search, and Fagan’s hunting shotgun was discovered along with the Glock.
Gonzaga security guards did not confiscate the weapon immediately after the incident. Earl Martin, an executive vice president at the Jesuit school, said the guards “wanted to be certain of the proper course of action.”
The proper course of action, apparently, was for the Gonzaga security guards to show up hours later, at 2 a.m. on a weekday night, enter the students’ apartment, loudly beat on their bedroom doors and forcefully confiscate the two guns.
“They followed our procedure to the letter,” Martin proudly boasted.
The Spokesman-Review notes that Gonzaga’s policy allows the school to enter student apartments without warrants.
McIntosh and Fagan still haven’t gotten their guns back. They reported them stolen to the real Spokane police.
On Friday, the two seniors appeared before a student conduct board, which found them in violation of Gonzaga’s policies. They will find out soon what their punishment will be. It could be suspension. It could be expulsion.
Initially, school officials coolly asserted that the victimized students should have known about the anti-gun policy, reports Northwest Cable news. Over the weekend though, in response to a massive negative publicity, school officials are wavering.
Gonzaga’s president Thayne McCulloh told The Seattle Times that there will be “thoughtful evaluation” of the blanket anti-gun policy. Spokeswoman Judi Biggs Garbuio wants to “facilitate a campus dialogue.”
The policy remains in place while school officials dither. Any students who are violently accosted will violate Gonzaga policy if they attempt to bear arms to defend themselves.
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