The Uconn gunman who was spotted on campus Monday afternoon took his own life after a tense all-night standoff with local authorities. After communications broke down with police, the man, whose name has not been released to the public, shot himself on the shoreline near the university. According to reports, no one else was harmed during the incident.
Around 5 p.m. on July 23rd, area police were altered to a peculiar individual lurking near the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus. Witnesses claimed the man was armed with some sort of handgun, though his intent was unclear at the time. Upon locating the man’s car around 10 p.m., authorities decided to close down the campus. Students who were attending the oceanography camp at the time were kept under police guard.
The search led police to the shoreline, where they found the individual wielding a handgun. Although authorities attempted to communicate with the man repeatedly during the standoff, he eventually became irritated with the process. As a result, he threw away his cellphone and refused to continue negotiations.
Sadly, things began to worsen as the night progressed. After the man began behaving in an increasingly erratic manner, police tried using non-lethal methods to bring him down. Neither bean bag guns nor flash bombs could make the man surrender his weapon. Just before dawn, the individual turned the gun on himself, ending his own life in the process.
University spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz explained that none of the students were ever in danger, though, according to Lt. J Paul Vance of the state police, the situation was dangerous for “everyone involved”. The school was expected to reopen this morning at 8 a.m.
Image provided courtesy of Uconn Today