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IUSB student with gun in backpack faces disciplinary actionSOUTH BEND, Feb 22, 2013 (South Bend Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- An Indiana University South Bend student who was carrying a handgun in his backpack on campus is facing disciplinary action for violating a policy that bans firearms on IU property. The student, who has not been identified, will go through the campus judicial procedure that applies when a student is accused of violating campus policies, IUSB spokesman Ken Baierl said today. The results of such disciplinary action are kept private. The incident occurred Monday on campus. No one attempted to use the gun and no one was injured. No report was filed with the IU South Bend Police Department, but campus Police Chief Marty Gersey investigated after he learned the location of the incident, according to Baierl. During the investigation, according to Baierl, Gersey determined the following: The student stopped by an information technology help desk in Wiekamp Hall on a routine matter Monday. When the student departed, he left behind his partially opened backpack. An employee on the help desk noticed the partially opened backpack, opened it in an effort to find identification in order to return the backpack to its owner and saw the handgun inside, Baierl said. "Right after that, the student returned to retrieve his backpack and left," Baierl said. The employee at the help desk mentioned the incident to others, but didn't file a campus police report. However, information about the incident reached the campus police office, and Gersey investigated. The student who owns the backpack and the gun has a license to carry a gun, Baierl said. However, all guns are banned on IU property. Gersey informed the student that, even if he has a license, a gun is not allowed on campus. "The student understood and apologized," Baierl said. He will no longer be bringing the gun to campus and is being cooperative, he said. The disciplinary case will be heard and decided, Baierl said. "At this point, it's not a criminal matter," he said. Employees at the IT help desk were told that, in the future, any sightings of guns or other weapons on campus should be reported immediately to campus police, he said. facebook.com/tribune.margaretfosmoe Follow me @mfosmoe Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe: [email protected] 574-235-6329 ___ (c)2013 the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.) Visit the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.) at www.southbendtribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |