Police arrested a man carrying a rifle and ammunition on the Syracuse University campus Saturday afternoon.
Mateu Healey-Parera, 22, of Mansfield Center, Connecticut, is a Cornell University student. Officers stopped him near Schine Student Center around 4 p.m., Syracuse police said.
A concerned citizen first reported seeing a man with a gun case near Crouse College minutes earlier, according to Onondaga County 911 dispatch records.
An officer with the Syracuse University Department of Public Safety stopped Healey-Parera on Waverly Avenue near the student center.
Police said he had a 1905 .30-06 U.S. Rock Island rifle in a case with a scope attached. Officers also found two boxes of ammunition in his backpack, totaling about 40 rounds.
Healey-Parera had recently bought the rifle, Syracuse Police Chief Mark Rusin said during a Monday news conference. Investigators have not said where he bought it.
Authorities also have not determined why he brought the weapon to campus.
Police said Healey-Parera traveled from Ithaca to Syracuse by bus. University officials said he was waiting for a bus to return to Ithaca when officers arrested him.
He faces a charge of criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds. In New York, bringing a firearm onto school or college property is illegal.
Healey-Parera is being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center jail. Bail was set at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond.
Police obtained an extreme risk protection order that allowed officers to search his residence over the weekend. Judges can issue the orders when someone may pose a risk of using a gun to harm themselves or others.
The arrest happened shortly before the Syracuse University men’s basketball game against Pittsburgh at the nearby JMA Wireless Dome. Nearly 20,000 people attended the game.
Police said investigators have found no indication the game was a target. Authorities in Syracuse and Ithaca added Healey-Parera was not previously known to them.
According to his LinkedIn page, Healey-Parera is a senior at Cornell studying city and regional planning.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].