By ANDY SEVILLA
A 21-year-old Louisiana man was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and resisting arrest following a gun scare at Texas State University last week.
Anthony Marcell Davis, III was arrested Nov. 20 and charged with both Class A misdemeanors after police questioned and search the Lake Charles man following reports of an individual with a gun at the campus.
The school’s Undergraduate Academic Center was evacuated at about 2:10 p.m. Nov. 20 after a woman reported seeing an individual with a gun to University Police, according to Jayme Blaschke, university spokesperson.
“I was working in one of the computer labs and I had an officer come in saying ‘y’all need to get out,’” Jose Jarquin, a Texas State junior told an Austin news station.
Shortly thereafter police identified Davis and a second individual as potential persons of interest.
Davis, who is not a Texas State student — and apparently refused to cooperate with investigators — was arrested for resisting arrest, search or transportation, according to the charges.
After police searched his “suspicious backpack” they allegedly found marijuana inside.
The second person, a Texas State student who police say cooperated with authorities, was questioned and released.
Some Texas State students captured the encounter between Davis and University Police on cell phones, and the footage showed the man struggling with officers.
Police ultimately used a stun gun to subdue Davis and take him into custody, student videos and pictures showed.
“I was initially very frightened,” Amy Perry, a Texas State senior told the TV station. “The officer said we have to leave now, and we all just grabbed our stuff and started heading down the stairs. And it was scary… there were just a lot of scenarios going through my head.”
Authorities did not find gun on Davis or in his backpack, and officials found there to be no active threat on campus. The Undergraduate Academic Center reopened just before 3 p.m., Blaschke said in a statement, and university operations resumed as normal.
Marcell was released from the Hays County jail on Nov. 21 after posting a $6,000 surety bond for his charges. He is due back in court on Dec. 19 for an arraignment hearing, according to Hays County criminal records.
