It was November 25, 2013, over the Thanksgiving holiday off at Yale University. It had been one year since the Sandy Hook school shootings. Police received a phone call from an area pay phone alerting them that another catastrophe was in the making.
A man told police that his roommate was on his way to the Yale campus, intent on shooting the place up. Police rolled out in force. The campus was locked down. Most students were home for the holiday, but there were still some folks left in the dorm buildings. Several other schools in the area were also put on lockdown, just to be safe.
SWAT teams began a room-by-room search of the campus and dorms. The entire ordeal lasted 6 hours and was the subject of national media attention.
Holy crap, confirmed reports of a gunman at Yale. Most of the campus on lockdown: http://t.co/W45jdoOXKA
— Laarni Ragaza (@LaarniRagaza) November 25, 2013
Ton of SWAT members at Yale dorms #shooting #lockdown #gunman (via @nickdefiesta) pic.twitter.com/Q8kmsnoGib
— Eric Rodriguez (@erod393) November 25, 2013
In the end, no gunman was found. Everyone breathed a qualified sigh of relief.
But the question on the minds of police and others were clear: Had there ever even been a gunman? Who called in the 911 tip?
Ever since that day, an investigation has been underway. The caller had used a pay phone, yes. But there was store security camera footage showing the caller. His face was not clear, but police could tell that he walked with a distinctive gait.
Like Verbal Kint said, “Sometimes that all you need.”
According to the New Haven Register, Connecticut police identified the man they believe made that call. He is one Jeffrey Jones of Westbrook, Connecticut. Jones walked with the same gait as the man in the video footage. He made statements to officers, accusing police of doing nothing about “all those kids died in Newtown. You’re not doing shit about that.”
His statement was not unique.
New Haven: 34 murders in 2011. 1,870 violent crimes in 2012. Nobody cares. One gunman on Yale campus: SWAT teams, helicopters, city lockdown
— Sophia ChuaRubenfeld (@SophiaCaribou) November 25, 2013
Jones was charged in January with putting nails under the tires of police cruisers.
The AP now reports that police have charged Jones with falsely reporting an incident, threatening, reckless endangerment, misuse of the emergency 911 system and breach of peace. They seem quite certain they have the right man.
The New Haven Register reported that the lockdown had cost the city about $30,000.
Image via YouTube
