Non-student armed with pistol chased off campus

A 20-year-old non-student was arrested for possessing a loaded weapon on campus on Nov. 1, according to a campus police report written by officer Randy Phillips. 

A caller told police there were two men on campus, one of whom was armed with a pistol, according to the report. An officer saw the men at Veterans Avenue and Patterson Street by the FedEx Institute of Technology. When the officer approached them, the man accused of having the weapon fled the scene and headed west on Watauga Avenue, according to the report.

Officers chased Joshua Jones into the backyards between Norriswood Avenue and Watauga Avenue where he jumped fences, refused to stop and hid in bushes, according to Shelby County Court records.

Officers found him behind Norriswood Townhome Rentals on the 3500 block of Norriswood Avenue. A loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun was found at that location, according to the campus police report. The accused man was arrested, and the other man was not charged. Both were issued trespass citations from campus property, according to the campus police report.

Jones was charged with carrying a weapon on school property, avoiding arrest and unlawful possession of a gun, according to Shelby County Court records. He appeared in court Tuesday and is scheduled to report to court again Nov. 11. 

News of the arrest was not reported to students through LiveSafe, the safety app that notifies students and faculty of crimes that occur on campus. 

The Daily Helmsman was unable to contact Derek Myers, assistant chief of police, about the actions taken if people are caught on campus with guns. The Daily Helmsman did not receive responses from colonel of campus police Ray Craft and Mary Balée, chief of campus police. 

While students and non-students are not allowed to carry weapons on campus, in April 2016, Tennessee legislators passed a bill allowing state college or university employees with gun permits to carry their concealed weapons on college campuses. The law went into effect in July 2016. 

Last year, The Daily Helmsman reported some members of the Student Government Association were not in favor of passing the bill and even wrote against the Tennessee bill. When the law was passed, students and faculty expressed criticism.

In Aug. 2016, Susan O’Donovan, an associate professor and former marine with expert badges in pistols and rifles, told The Daily Helmsman it takes a long time and lots of training to become proficient in firearms. She also said she is unhappy with the “lax requirements†asked of U of M employees.

“I am not comfortable knowing that any of my fellow employees might be carrying a concealed weapon,†O’Donovan said last August. “The odds are very good that the person who brings a gun onto campus has no clue how to handle it or use it safely.â€Â 

As of Aug. 2016, campus police services reported at least 20 full-time U of M employees had applied to carry their concealed guns on campus.

Last spring, President M. David Rudd sent a campus-wide email citing his opposition to the bill and said he did not think more weapons on campus would make the campus safer. Rudd also said the U of M is one of the safest campuses in the nation, and this law would jeopardize the high standard the campus is seeking for students.