Student brings knife to campus

A student was escorted off campus today for carrying a knife after campus police detained her and referred her case to the vice president of student affairs as a disciplinary action rather than a criminal charge.

Dr. Robert Vela, vice president of student affairs, said the student is no longer on campus, but he was restricted from detailing the incident by Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

 “If there is any threat to the educational environment, my job is to remove that threat,” Vela said.

The incident started at about 11 a.m. today when psychology freshman Isabell Gomez reported to the office of student life that another student was carrying a knife in the second floor hallway on the north side of Loftin Student Center.

Carrie Hernandez, student activities specialist, called campus police.

Campus police arrived and cordoned off the area, including the stairwell in the northeast corner of the building, for about 30 minutes before escorting the student to a patrol car on the north side of the building.

Architecture freshman Paul Puente and a nonstudent, who was identified as simply “Armando,” gave information to the police about what they had witnessed, Puente said.

Gomez told her story to police.

Gomez told The Ranger she was sitting with friends inside the craft room when the student approached the group at the table.

 “She just came and said ‘hi’ to some of my friends,” Gomez said.

After about 30 minutes, the student left the table and went to the hall.

Gomez started to follow the student to see if she was all right, but was discouraged by people at the table.

 “Some friends of mine told me she had a knife.”

Gomez reported to Hernandez in the nearby office of student life that three students told her the student had a knife and that Gomez felt threatened.

Hernandez reported it to student life Director Jorge Posadas, who instructed her to call campus police.

Gomez said that previously she and the student had a disagreement involving romantic interests.

“I didn’t know she had a knife,” Gomez said. “I got really scared. How do you react to something like that? If she wasn’t going to hurt me, she was going to hurt someone else.”

“The student was detained for questioning, even though campus police determined there was no crime,” Chief Adams said, “Instead, it was classified as a safety issue because the student was reported displaying a knife on campus.”

Campus police escorted the student from Loftin to the Alamo College Police Department at 1601 N. Main Ave., before referring her to the office of the vice president of student affairs for disciplinary action.

According to district Procedure F.4.2.1, an illegal knife is defined as, a knife (a) which (regardless of blade size) is equipped with a lock mechanism so that upon opening it becomes a fixed-blade knife or (b) with a blade over 5 ½ inches; a hand instrument designed to cut or stab another by being thrown; a dagger; a Bowie knife; a sword; or a spear.

To report any suspicious activity on campus, call the 24-hour police dispatch at 210-485-0099.

For non-emergencies, call the police at 210-485-0099.