Violent suspect arrested

Print

By Communications Staff
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A student at The University of Western Ontario has been arrested following violent confrontations on a number of floors at Western's Social Sciences Building.

The incident began shortly after 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 14 when campus police were contacted by a student in the Social Sciences building who reported being followed by another student acting in a strange manner. 
 
A short time later, campus police received calls regarding a disoriented and threatening individual who had appeared on two different floors attempting to enter offices. On the 8th floor, the suspect entered an office and attempted to force the occupant to leave. Being unsuccessful, the suspect left and subsequently barricaded himself in a 7th floor office. London Police were called.  
 
Two campus officers arrived on the scene and the suspect came out of the barricaded office and charged the officers in a violent manner. Other persons on the floor fled for their own safety and some locked themselves in their own offices.  
 
A third officer arrived and the three officers attempted to subdue the suspect, but he was able to break away from officers and fled.  
 
On the main floor the suspect was stopped by a campus police officer and a confrontation took place as the suspect attempted to flee. London Police officers arrived on the scene to assist campus police and tried to subdue the suspect, who continued to fight violently and would not allow himself to be handcuffed. 
 
After numerous loud requests to the suspect to stop resisting, officers used punches and strikes to the suspect’s arms to apply handcuffs.  
 
The suspect was eventually subdued and as he was being led outside, he began to fight once again. He was further restrained by officers. An ambulance arrived at this time. Paramedics had been called because officers felt the behaviour exhibited by the individual indicated he should be assessed at hospital.  
 
The resistance continued after the individual was transported to hospital. He was released into police custody at 3 a.m., Oct. 15.   
 
Police charged a 22-year-old fourth-year Social Sciences student with mischief, resisting arrest, assault, and escaping custody.  He was described as 6 feet, 230 pounds. No weapon was believed involved.
 
“Our officers and London Police officers were dealing with a disoriented and violent young person who clearly required help,” said Gitta Kulczycki, Vice-President, Resources & Operations at Western.
 
“Our officers did what they needed to do to ensure that he and others around him were safe.”  
 
“As always, we will examine our actions and will work with London Police to ensure that use of force was appropriate,” said Kulczycki.
 
The University Students' Council, saying it has heard the concerns "of the thousands of students who have viewed and commented upon a video" of the arrest, said it is working with the university to learn more about what happened.

USC President Emily Rowe urged students to continue to express their opinions and concerns, however "I would also request that students listen to the facts as they come out, and focus their energies on developing positive solutions."
 
At a media conference Thursday, Kulczycki stressed that Western has a safe campus and that there was concern for the safety of faculty, staff and students, as well as the student. 
 
“This is the kind of situation we hope that never occurs on our campus, or any other, and we are most grateful to have a very strong campus community police service on our campus and also for the support of London Police when dealing with a very difficult situation.”
 
Elgin Austen, director of Campus Community Police Service, described the suspect as difficult and strong, saying “the student’s behaviour was creating safety concerns.”
 
When Austen arrived on scene, he says he “didn’t see anything out of the order, with regards to the circumstances, with the use of force being conducted.”
 
“This will be a situation that stands out because it is a rare occasion, but when it does occur there have to be measures put into place that minimize the injuries to the individual and other.
 
“This is an individual that we hope is able to, under better circumstances, return to Western at some point."
 
 
 



 

Also from this web page:

About

Hours

Weekdays
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(holidays excluded)

Contact

Publisher:
Helen Connell (hconnell@uwo.ca)

Editor:
Jason Winders (newseditor@uwo.ca)

Reporter/Photographer:
Paul Mayne (pmayne@uwo.ca)

Reporter/Photographer:
Heather Travis (htravis2@uwo.ca)

Advertising Coordinator:
Denise Jones (advertise@uwo.ca)

Off-Campus Advertising Sales:
Chris Amyot, Campus Ad (campusad@sympatico.ca)

National Advertising Representative:
Campus Plus

Phone:
519-661-2045

Fax:
519-661-3921

Mail:
Western News, Suite 360
Westminster Hall
The University of Western Ontario, London N6A 3K7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western provides the best student experience among Canada's leading research-intensive universities.