Updated 4:40 p.m.
At a press conference Thursday morning, university police chief John Peach said officers arrested the man after he visited Robinson Memorial Hospital for treatment last night. Peach said the man is now in custody in Portage County Jail.
In a phone call with ideastream, Kent State spokesman Eric Mansfield identified the man in custody as Quavaugntay L. Tyler, a 24-year-old freshman student from Cleveland.
After receiving a report of a gunshot at 8:30 p.m., the university locked down campus, alerting students, faculty and staff to take shelter, Peach said. He said officers spoke with witnesses at the scene and searched the university’s business administration building floor by floor.
Peach said authorities arrested Tyler at 11:30 last night after receiving a call from hospital staff that he had arrived there with a wounded hand. Peach said officers confirmed Tyler’s location by tracking his cell phone.
Peach said the weapon was a nine-millimeter Ruger handgun, and that Tyler told officers he carried a gun because he had been the victim of an armed robbery earlier in his life.
Tyler was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and is scheduled for a court hearing next week, according to online Portage County court records.
University president Lester Lefton said police had prepared for a shooting emergency and responded quickly.
“They were able to enlist the aid of other police departments to help in the process, and everyone on campus – faculty, staff and students – did what they were supposed to do,” Lefton said. “They’ve been drilled, they’ve been trained, they’ve been informed, and everyone did their part in an appropriate way.”
