As of Friday, no criminal charges had been filed against the 20-year-old detained on Mississippi State University’s campus Thursday after officials received a tip about a possible active shooter near the Drill Field.
Sid Salter, the school’s chief communications officer, confirmed freshman Phu-Qui Cong “Bill” Nguyen, of Madison, withdrew from the university after he was detained unarmed by law enforcement agents.
Nguyen was transported to a treatment facility in Jackson for psychological evaluation Thursday and is no longer in MSU Police Department’s custody.
Salter previously said Thursday that Nguyen could face a disorderly conduct charge, but the former student has not been arrested.
Along with various local and state law enforcement agencies, MSUPD locked down the campus shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday after dispatchers received a tip from the Mississippi Highway Patrol about a potential active shooter incident.
MSUPD Chief Vance Rice said the university received a call in regard to a subject on the Drill Field threatening “both homicide and suicide.”
Nguyen was detained at McCool Hall. He was unarmed when law enforcement found him. No injuries were reported from the incident.
“Obviously, Thursday caused a monstrous interruption, instilled unwarranted fear and, in some cases, caused panic,” Salter said Friday. “But at the end of the day, we remain thankful that no one was injured and that we were able to get a resolution to the incident as peaceful and productive as we did.”
MSU issued a Maroon Alert at 10:16 a.m. that described an “active shooter” situation at the Drill Field, near Carpenter Hall.
Even though Nguyen was unarmed, Salter said the university would, in the future, act in a similar manner if provided the same information from a credible law enforcement agency.
MSU officials met for two hours Friday and discussed the university’s reaction, response times and other variables surrounding the incident. While praising law enforcement’s handling of the situation, President Mark Keenum challenged university leaders to put all ideas on the table to improve for future events, Salter said.
Specifically, Salter said officials will focus on improving mass messaging platforms and how they communicate with students, faculty and staff; and work on university policies to improve information relay times.
“If we can do something to save a minute or two — anything to make our response better and do anything humanly possible to protect lives here — we’re going to do that. In these situations, we don’t have the luxury of waiting around,” he said. “We’re going to make tweaks and updates.
“Were there hiccups? Yes. We’re pleased with how parts of our reaction worked, but we can see where we can and want to do better in other areas,” Salter added. “When you’re in the business of protecting young people, you can’t be good enough.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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