Man Carrying Rifle Arrested On St. John's Campus
NEW YORK -- A St. John's freshman was arrested Wednesday on the Queens campus with a rifle and mask that some witnesses said looked like President Bush, according to police.
Police sources said the suspect, Omesh Hiraman, 22, told police that he was acting alone and walked across campus with the gun. Hiraman did not give any reason why, police said.
St. John's University was locked down and classes were cancelled as a result.
Police sources said Hiraman has a history of mental illness and had been hospitalized in the past. Investigators believe he was off his medication at the time of this incident.
A source close to the investigation said Hiraman is schizophrenic with past stints in hospital, a medical history that St. John's was unaware of.
Hiraman's lawyer, Anthony Colleluori, said that Hiraman was in the hospital for scoliosis surgery last month and stopped taking personal medications because they made him sick.
While walking on St. John's campus caryying the gun, Hiraman was stopped by a campus security officer, a student and an NYPD cadet taking courses at Queens’s campus.
Police said the NYPD cadet, Christopher Benson, was sitting on a bench on campus when he saw Hiraman walking by, wearing what he thought was a President Bush mask and carrying the rifle in a black garbage bag.
"As he passed by, I noticed a black bag-- I saw the butt of the gun. He was dead set on going where he was going. He was walking really fast-- it was hard to keep up with him,â€
