Borough charges Shonts '12 in connection with gun scare

Shonts, 18, was arrested early Saturday morning by Borough Police Sgt. Jon Bucchere and Patrol Officer James Martinez after an investigation revealed that he ran through campus from Forbes College to 1915 Hall with an “imitation/replica AK-47” assault rifle, according to the statement.

The weapon was confiscated when Shonts was brought into custody, and he was taken to Borough headquarters, processed and then released on his own recognizance.

“I deeply regret what transpired on campus last Friday evening,” Shonts said in an e-mail to The Daily Princetonian. “I take full responsibility for my actions, though I had no intention to cause undue alarm within the [U]niversity community. I hope the people of Princeton University can forgive me for my irresponsible behavior.”

University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt ’96 declined to comment on the Borough’s decision to file charges against Shonts.

“We would leave it to the Borough to comment on charges,” she said.

Cliatt also declined to say whether the University would take disciplinary action against Shonts.

“Matters of discipline, no matter what the incident, [are] not public,” Cliatt said. “[They are] protected by privacy laws.”

It appears, however, that Shonts, a Forbes resident, may have violated University regulations as well as state law. “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities” states that “the possession, storing, or use on campus of firearms (including paintball, BB, air, or other guns that shoot projectiles) … except inoperative antique firearms used exclusively for decorative purposes” is a “serious offense.”

The Borough Police investigation that led to Shonts’ arrest was initiated by several sightings of an armed student-age male on campus late Friday night. Reports of these sightings to Public Safety triggered campus-wide safety alerts beginning early Saturday morning at around 12:40 a.m., roughly 80 minutes after the first report was filed.

Erica Greil ’10 said she called Public Safety from the bus stop by the Dinky Station at 11:24 p.m. Friday night after seeing a man sprint by with what looked like an AK-47 in his hand.

Greil explained that she was walking to the Wawa on University Place with two friends when a man carrying a gun ran past the group. Roughly five feet, eight inches tall and wearing a short-sleeved shirt, the individual appeared to be coming from the direction of Forbes, Greil said.

“It looked like he had a weapon in his hand. It looked like an AK-47,” she said. “I lived in a third-world country, so I know what they look like ... We could definitely tell it wasn’t a water gun or a Nerf gun.”

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Within one minute of Greil’s call, Public Safety contacted Borough Police, Cliatt said. Officers from Public Safety and Borough Police had already begun canvassing the area by 11:29 p.m., when Public Safety received a second call with a similar report.

The University did not send out the first warning messages via the Princeton Telephone and E-mail Notification System (PTENS) until 12:40 a.m., when Public Safety and Borough Police officers deemed the threat credible. Students told the ‘Prince’ that they received the message — which alerted students to an “unconfirmed report of a student-age [male] carrying a weapon in the area of Spelman Hall[s]” — between 12:45 a.m. and 12:48 a.m.

Shonts himself received the alert via text message and called Public Safety at 12:59 a.m. to say that he thought he might be the individual mentioned in the alert, Cliatt said in an interview last weekend. Public Safety then notified Borough Police, and officials picked up Shonts at a dorm on campus and took him into custody.

State law bans the possession of firearms and imitation firearms on the grounds of all educational institutions, including colleges and universities, without the written authorization of the governing officer of the institution. Possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000 or both. The possession of an imitation firearm on school property is punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000 or both.