Law student arrested for firing at neighbors

The lock from a Drexel student's apartment was shot off the door by a second-year Penn Law student yesterday. The student has been charged with assault.

A second-year Penn Law student was arrested yesterday after he allegedly fired about 15 shots into the door of his downstairs neighbors' apartment at 4339 Pine St., Lt. John Walker of the Philadelphia Police said.

The Penn student - whose name will not be released until he is arraigned - is being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary and other related charges.

No one was injured in the incident.

At about 12:30 p.m. yesterday, the student attempted to enter the apartment of his neighbors, two male Drexel University students, Walker said.

After the Drexel students did not answer their door, the Penn student returned to his second-floor apartment, retrieved a Glock 9mm handgun and allegedly fired 13 to 15 shots into the locked door, Walker said.

When the Penn student entered the apartment, only one Drexel student was inside. The Drexel student remained hiding behind his bed for the entire time that the Penn student was in the apartment, Walker said.

The Penn student did not find the Drexel student, who escaped the incident unharmed, Walker said.

The Penn student then left the building. He was apprehended by the police when he returned to the building at about 12:45 p.m.

He attempted to assault the Drexel students because he believed that they were spying on him, Walker said.

This belief was spurred by a conversation that occurred yesterday morning in which the Penn student learned the two Drexel students were from India and studying biomedical engineering, Walker said.

The Penn student, who is Korean, became "irate" that the Drexel students were studying here after he learned they were from India, Walker said.

Walker added that the suspect had been living in the apartment for less than 30 days.

The Southwest Detective Division is handling the investigation because it is outside the Penn Police's patrol zone, which extends from 30th to 43rd streets and from Baltimore Avenue to Market Street.

After hearing about the shooting, neighbors seemed alarmed by the day's events.

"I'm a little bit anxious about this," said Cooper Wriston, a visiting Medical student from Duke University who lives across the street from the student. Wriston added that he was "shocked" by the incident.

University spokeswoman Lori Doyle declined to comment.

Comments (22)

Too bad they didn't fire into sex offenders' houses, then we would all be applauding the shooter, not dissing him.

Anyway, I always believed it's not paranoia if they are really out to get/spy on you... so lets hear his side of the story before we get all gossipy. God knows, if I had a freakish lunatic next door neighbor, I might do a little spying. I wonder where he got the gun. Probably in the stairwell behind the bar in Midtown. That's where I throw dice.

So... Think the gun was legal? Also, what's the deal, you can't release his name, but you can say where he lives? Isn't that the same thing?

[QUOTE id="17de14fc-a2a9-4028-8886-ff2ba69af21d"]"The Penn student - whose name will not be released until he is arraigned - is being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary and other related charges." I've come across dozens of cases of individuals facing much stiffer charges, including attempted Murder, for doing a lot less than putting 15 bullets in someone's front door. I don't know if I should be outraged as an American citizen, or glad that a Penn degree is worth a lot more these days.[/QUOTE] Shooting a door is not attempted murder.

GLOCK should always appear in capital letters in print, it's just how the company does it

So glad my freshman's at Penn, where apparently criminals abound among students and faculty.

[QUOTE id="a394eb15-90bc-43e9-8ebe-1829f78043aa"]So... Think the gun was legal? Also, what's the deal, you can't release his name, but you can say where he lives? Isn't that the same thing?[/QUOTE] ...Actually, the gun was legal, according to the Philly Inquirer.

That'll teach Drexel people not to encroach into Penn Housing! Drexel kids...stay north of Chestnut where you belong!

Just waiting to hear from all those who claim that arming all Penn students would make the campus safer...

[QUOTE id="70c80ccb-2325-4627-acfc-8362065e86c0"]Just waiting to hear from all those who claim that arming all Penn students would make the campus safer...[/QUOTE] It does make it safer for Penn students, just not Drexel students.

......like there is no possibility of another school having a psychotic schizophrenic...... could just as easily happen anywhere else. Same thing with the professor - do you think these people planned their lives around committing these crimes at Penn? Penn is getting some rough publicity that is not their fault and people like you don't help the situation. Its enough dealing with people who think crime in an crime urban area is going to be non-existent because their kid goes to school there (not going to happen by the way....). I suppose you think this could have been prevented as well... Take your kid and go to Dartmouth or OZ or anywhere else away from here - you do nothing to help the situation. Idiot.

I'm glad I finished up last year, so I wouldn't be around those crazy Law kids. I might be generalizing, but with the 'amazing' track record of the Penn police, I'm surprised this wasn't some Black kid under arrest. Then again, the police could just be saving their quota for months not recognized as "Black History Month." Jokes aside, Gun violence really is a major issue in Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania on the whole. This should really be a wake up call to revise the Gun Laws statewide....Why the hell does anyone need a gun anyway? It's not like West Philly is Camden or anything :)

Korean-American = Korean? As a foreign national, I'm baffled. Not to mention offended. THIS MAN IS AMERICAN. ps. mentioning the irrelevant (and prejudicial)fact of his ethnicity makes me question the journalistic integrity of the Daily Pennsylvanian.

This guy must be taking Victimology

[QUOTE id="934e54e3-d938-41dc-a646-1bee59734c3d"]......like there is no possibility of another school having a psychotic schizophrenic...... could just as easily happen anywhere else. Same thing with the professor - do you think these people planned their lives around committing these crimes at Penn? Penn is getting some rough publicity that is not their fault and people like you don't help the situation. Its enough dealing with people who think crime in an crime urban area is going to be non-existent because their kid goes to school there (not going to happen by the way....). I suppose you think this could have been prevented as well... Take your kid and go to Dartmouth or OZ or anywhere else away from here - you do nothing to help the situation. Idiot.[/QUOTE] You are a bad writer: "crime in an crime urban area..." And, "bad publicity" isn't the problem when violent crimes are up and then happen to get reported. You sound very angry and hostile. Maybe you're the next story

I agree with an earlier poster - the decision to mention the assailant's race while withholding other parts of his identity (ostensibly to protect his privacy until he is arraigned) is kind of odd. What was the point? To insinuate that there was some kind of "Korean-Indian" racial conflict? The Philadelphia Inquirer's account of the case provides a lot more context and is much more nuanced. There are two articles on the Inquirer's archives on the case. http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/16594017.htm http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/16594091.htm It is interesting to note that apparently, the assailant thought that the intended victims were spies involved in some kind of terrorism plot. That's paranoia to be sure, but how different is it from the city of Boston shutting down everything and arresting some marketing guys because of a dozen billboards? Considering the fact that our reporters are Penn students and presumably have access to local information that the Inquirer doesn't, I think it's just sad that the reporting was not as thorough as it could have been. And yes I like gossip as much as anyone else!

The Penn student - whose name will not be released until he is arraigned - is being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary and other related charges. I've come across dozens of cases of individuals facing much stiffer charges, including attempted Murder, for doing a lot less than putting 15 bullets in someone's front door. I don't know if I should be outraged as an American citizen, or glad that a Penn degree is worth a lot more these days.

it's not that the penn degree is worth so much. it's just that the police recognize this kid is suffering from schizophrenia. note the paranoid delusions. the best place for him is probably not a jail but a mental ward. that's probably just where he'll end up.

the korean are a very sneaky people

Lots of law schools have mentally deficient students, like The University of Texas at Austin School of Law had a law student from Pennsylvania named Richard Hillary who is a raging alcoholic and was arrested for public intoxication and failure to identify. He got off despite the fact that he smelled of alcohol, had been drinking that night, and his reputation as a big drunk precedes him (and there are literally hundreds of witnesses and tons of photos of him drunk, often wearing women's clothing for some reason), but he got off because of a mental disorder. It was later revealed that Richard Hillary has been arrested many times for behavior that would be considered psychotic, including a case in Northampton County in 2006, and a harassment conviction in 1993 in Centre County, PA. His victim was a female senior citizen. It is our understanding that he still may graduate but now has a snowballs chance in hell of finding a job, as in no reputable firms or non-profits in Texas are willing to hire him. The point is that law schools let nuts slip in all the time, but they eventually reveal themselves to be fools, hopefully before they turn dangerous.

as i sit in my managers office, telling the upenn kids they hired with me what to do; i reflect on all the time i spent norh of chestnut, and east of 30th st, and hell north of spring garden. and how that time, and the superior education i recieved, has better prepared me to handle the day to day stress of having weirdos living next to me. but back to your hallowed walls of ivy children. be careful when you use the mac machine on walnut. and don't go to cav's on sunday, or anytime before 5.

[QUOTE id="dceb25a5-ebed-464c-95b4-ebad9bcfcecd"]the korean are a very sneaky people[/QUOTE] What kind of stupid racist remark ist that, oh and your mom is a whore, idiot!!!

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