A St. Johns student lugging a rifle and wearing a creepy Halloween mask on campus yesterday was wrestled into custody by a quick-thinking NYPD cadet and campus guard and within minutes, students were text-messaged to stay put while cops swarmed onto the grounds.
Frightened students, locked into classrooms, the gym and cafeteria at the Queens university were both relieved at the timely warning and scared stiff at the prospect of a sicko sniper stalking the urban campus.
“I thought it would be Virginia Tech right here,” said Rakesh Dalal, 46, who was at the Catholic school’s financial aid office.
But thanks to a new text-messaging system put in place at the university earlier this month and the lightning-quick arrest of 22-year-old Omesh Hiraman, of East Elmhurst, no shots were fired.
Police said the apprehension of Hiraman came around 2:30 p.m., and just nine minutes later, the first text was relayed to students: “From Public Safety. Male was found on campus with rifle. Please stay in your buildings until further notice. He is in custody, but please wait until the all-clear.”
The message went out a second time at 2:47 p.m.
At 3:33 p.m. an update was issued: “NYPD officers in Queens are conducting a building-by-building search. Please stay put.”
NYPD cadet Chris Benson, sitting on a campus bench and talking on the cellphone to his girlfriend, first spotted Hiraman lugging the suspicious-looking bag and tailed him, cops said.
Walking between St. Johns Hall and Marillac Hall, a security guard approached the rifleman and grabbed the single-shot, .50-caliber rifle. As they struggled over the firearm, the 6-foot-2 Benson rushed over, grabbed the suspect and slammed him to the ground. He then patted him down to make sure he had no other weapons, police said.
Students were largely unaware of the dramatic events but were quickly informed to stay put and await further messages.
Sean Edwards, a 27-year-old junior, said the text-messaging worked perfect. “Nobody panicked,” he said.
Around 5:30 p.m., students exhausted from the anxious hours and fending off several rumors about the gunmans outfits and motives were allowed off campus,
though none were allowed on.
All night classes were canceled. Hiraman, meanwhile, was hauled into the 107th Precinct for questioning.
Police sources said his rifle was new, and that he had only one .50-caliber bullet.
According to several witnesses, Hiraman was taken inside Mirallac Hall and detained there. Timothy Kilgannon, 23, said the thought of Virginia Tech crossed his mind as he was kept inside the law school library, which was pretty well filled up.
“Things like that run through your head,” he said. He agreed that the message system helped keep the campus in order and safe.
This past April 16, 32 students and faculty were murdered at Virginia Tech by deranged gunman Seung Hui Cho, who then killed himself.
After the initial killings, kids were left unaware that a madman was on the loose.
At St. Johns, an emergency management plan was devised in which the campus would be locked down and every building searched.
In addition, the text-messaging system, available to all students who pass along their cellphone numbers, was put into place earlier this month, according to a Sept. 13 statement from Joseph Tufano, vice president for information technology at St. Johns.