Safety concerns surged among Parkside International Residential College (IRC) residents after a USC freshman was arrested on April 14 for allegedly pointing a loaded gun at another student in a dorm room. The incident, first reported by Morning, Trojan, has left many questioning how secure campus housing truly is.
DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle said on April 14 at around 9 p.m. that an IRC residential advisor reported a student pulling a gun on another student on the afternoon of April 11.
The resident was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Carlisle confirmed. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) later recovered a handgun from a safe in his dorm and a loaded magazine in his car.
Sheriff’s records show that an 18 year old was booked the morning of April 15 on suspicion of a felony after being detained by USC authorities. He was released on $30,000 bail that evening.
Students were not notified by USC’s administration about the incident. A Trojan Alert — USC’s emergency notification system for texts and emails during emergencies — was not issued.
Anna Solem, a freshman living on the fourth floor, claims she witnessed the arrest firsthand.
“We could see down our hall that there were like five or six police officers, just standing around. Nobody knew what was going on,” she said.
Solem said she found out about the incident from friends.
“I would have had no idea if my friends hadn’t texted,” she said. “We didn’t get a DPS text or anything.”
Megan Ngo, a resident of IRC, said she heard about the incident from her roommate, who’d seen officers standing outside of Parkside.
“We didn’t even get a report. My roommate looked on the website for the report. We didn’t get an email or anything like we usually would,” she said. “Why are you trying to hide it? I kind of don’t trust the school right now.”
According to university policy, “Using or possessing any firearm, explosive, or weapon of any kind, regardless of whether the person has a lawfully-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon” is prohibited, with the exception of DPS personnel.
Despite this policy, Ngo is still worried that a situation like this could take place in the future.
“I don’t know how he snuck it in, but if he did manage to do that, then others probably also can,” she said.
Ojas Kerhalkar, a freshman studying computer science and business, echoed the same worry.
“From one point, I feel safe because we’re all just USC students,” he said. “But there could be unintended consequences that could happen because of this lapse.”
There are no immediate plans to file charges, a spokesperson for the L.A. County District Attorney told Morning, Trojan.
Now students wonder how USC will keep further incidents like this from happening on campus.
“The best possible thing they can do is make sure that everyone keeps an eye on each other,” Kerhalkar said. “If anything sounds suspicious or even odd, it’s reported safely and anonymously, and someone can act on it instantly.”