At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oswego State University Police responded to a disruption in a Marano Campus Center classroom that turned out to be a student carrying a potentially dangerous item.

According to an email sent out by Oswego State President Deborah Stanley on Thursday morning, an alert was not sent out to campus members because “members of our campus were not in any danger.”

“We moved deliberately to amass verified information and put it out quickly without inadvertently making it seem like an emergency, which it never was,” said Wayne Westervelt, chief communication officer for Oswego State.

The student responsible was John Mietus, who was first met by University Police officers in a hallway in Poucher Hall. Police escorted Mietus out of the building and searched him in a nearby parking lot, where they discovered a suspicious item. Mietus was immediately placed under arrest and taken to the police station, along with the suspicious item. There, the Oswego fire department determined that the item was not a hazard.

“I commend our University Police for responding immediately to what initially came in as a reported classroom disruption,” Westervelt said. “They promptly removed the student from the building, investigated the matter, and it was at this point when they discovered an object that was later determined not to be hazardous.”

According to Westervelt, the situation was never considered a threat to the greater safety of the campus because Mietus never threatened violence, but was simply carrying a suspicious item with him as he disrupted the class

he was present in.

“Had this been an incident in which a threat was made, a bomb was referenced, or a person was reported to be armed and or dangerous, we would have responded very differently with a different set of actions and immediate communication with our students, faculty and staff,” Westervelt said.

According to Stanley’s email, Mietus has been arrested on one count of attempting to place a false bomb or hazardous substance in the first degree, which is a Class E felony.

Mietus has also been suspended from Oswego State, effective Wednesday, before he was taken to court. He will not be permitted back on campus without making arrangements with the Dean of Students.

“Let this incident remind our campus community that if any of us becomes aware of something that we believe could be a threat to our campus and each other’s safety, that we immediately speak up and contact University Police,” Stanley said in the email announcement.

 Bailey Maier | The Oswegonian