A 20-year-old Mississippi State University freshman was detained and referred to mental health specialists Thursday after law enforcement agents locked down the campus and scoured the Drill Field for an armed suspect.
Phu-Qui Cong “Bill” Nguyen, of Madison, was unarmed when he was detained at McCool Hall about 10:26 a.m., approximately 10 minutes after MSU issued a Maroon Alert to students, faculty and staff that warned of an active shooter situation.
Officials said he was detained without incident. No injuries directly linked to the threat were reported. No shots were fired.
MSU released a statement Thursday afternoon that said Nguyen will face charges of disorderly conduct.
Arrests by the area’s three main law enforcement agencies — Starkville Police Department, Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department and MSUPD — typically flow to the Oktibbeha County Jail, where suspects are booked and processed.
As of 5 p.m., officials with OCSD said Nguyen had not yet been booked or processed at the jail. A call to confirm the charges with MSUPD was not returned by business hours.
An arrest log published at midnight by OCSD did not include his name, but did contain other arrests made by MSUPD.
How it began
Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, said Nguyen was on the phone with an Army recruiter in the Jackson area when the recruiter became concerned that Nguyen was considering suicide and directed a co-worker to call MSU. The Mississippi Highway Patrol was also called and told the university Nguyen was threatening to shoot others, according to a transcript of the call released by MSU.
“You guys are aware you are going to possibly have an active shooter on campus at this time?” the MHP representative told the MSU official, according to the transcript.
“No. I had a suicide call from Jackson saying the guy was suicidal at Carpenter Hall,” the MSU official said.
“Well, she was saying the guy was going to actually shoot others as well as himself,” the MHP representative said.
MSUPD Chief Vance Rice said that the university received a call about 10 a.m. Thursday in regard to a subject on the Drill Field threatening “both homicide and suicide.”
With that information, MSUPD dispatched all officers to the Drill Field, near Carpenter Hall. The “active shooter” Maroon Alert was issued at 10:16 a.m.
“Safety…is our primary job. When the university receives a credible threat — there is a definition in our policy of a credible threat — the Maroon Alert process kicks in,” Sid Salter, chief communications officer with MSU, said. “We don’t wait around for a student, staffer or faculty member to be injured. We implement the policy as soon as that threat is recognized. I think every entity and agency of this size deals with it on that basis, and that’s certainly why we did it as well.
“We’re always going to err on the side of caution,” he added.
Law enforcement from various local and state agencies swarmed campus after the Maroon Alert was issued. Students were warned to shelter in place, whether they were located in residence halls or classrooms as officers armed with rifles and shotguns scoured the Drill Field area.
Some students were observed running from the area as rumors circulated about additional armed men and gunfire spread through social media.
Kayleigh McCool, a MSU student, was in lock down near the Drill Field after receiving information via Maroon Alert. McCool said people in Carpenter Hall climbed out on a fire escape and fled into the university’s library.
By 10:26 a.m. — approximately 10 minutes after the first Maroon Alert went out — Nguyen was in custody. At 10:54 a.m. the university issued an “all clear.”
‘Dealt with in a professional manner’
“We take these kinds of calls and these types of situations extremely serious here at Mississippi State,” MSU President Mark Keenum said at a mid-day press conference. “I was very pleased at the quick, immediate response of our university police and all of our other law enforcement agencies. This is an unfortunate situation. I think we’ve dealt with it in a very professional manner and in a way that is keeping of our responsibility…to the safety of all of our students, faculty and staff.”
Classes resumed at 2 p.m.
In all, agents with OCSD, MHP, SPD, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Mississippi Department of Health and the Federal Bureau of Investigations assisted MSUPD during the situation.
Keenum said counseling will be offered to students, Keenum said in a release.
Keenum also said his thoughts and prayers are with all impacted Thursday, including Nguyen’s family.
MSU Student Counseling Services’ center is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for walk-in appointments, and counselors are on call 24 hours a day. Services can be accessed by calling 662-325-2091.
The Associated Press and Dispatch reporters Isabelle Altman, Andrew Hazzard and Alex Holloway contributed to this report.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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