A snapshot taken by a student allowed officials to identify and locate the man accused of making threats and shutting down Cal State Northridge’s Oviatt Library Tuesday morning.
Gahren Moradian, a philosophy student, turned himself in last night around 8 p.m. Moradian was charged with making criminal threats and is being held at the L.A. County Central Jail.
According to the latest press release from CSUN, Moradian indicated that he had a gun and made comments that he was planning to use it yesterday at around 10 a.m. Someone in the library overheard his comments and reported him to the police.
The library was then evacuated and law enforcement officials conducted a thorough search for the suspect and the weapon, but neither was found. The campus remained open during the search; meanwhile, the library was closed down. The CSUN library re-opened this morning.
The Daily Sundial, CSUN’s school newspaper, reported that someone claimed they saw the suspect screaming profanities next to a stone pillar by the front of the building, saying he was “doing a lot, not getting credit for it, and there’s no recognition.”
The emergency response message that the police sent out with a description of the suspect helped them obtain a photograph of Moradian. He was described as wearing a white T-shirt with the words “human rights violatin” (sic) printed on it.
Students were kept informed throughout the investigation via Twitter, Facebook and the Daily Sundial’s up-to-date coverage.
CSUN is one of the second largest CSU campuses according to CSUN’s website.
“It’s a big campus,” said Tony Nguyen, a CSULB art major. “It could be anybody in any school. We have authorities, but they can’t check everybody. I feel safe. It only takes one person to make the security go up.”
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