On Friday, March 23, 2018 Campus Safety responded to a tip they received and conducted an investigation which led to the discovery of firearms in a student dorm room. In Campus Safety’s ongoing efforts to maintain a safe campus environment for all students, they contacted local authorities to get involved. Consequently, a Biola student was arrested and transported to Norwalk Sheriff’s Station where he was charged with multiple felonies including possession of a weapon on a university campus.
Norwalk Station detectives conducted an investigation, including an interview with the suspect, and found there was no threat to the campus’ students, faculty or staff. Biola’s Campus Safety will continue to assist law enforcement in their ongoing investigation.
Since the Norwalk Sheriff concluded there was no threat to the campus community, Biola’s leadership decided to wait until further details developed over the last few days before sharing it with parents. We take seriously possession of any firearms on campus and did not want to impede or interfere with the investigation by sharing premature information. Biola’s leadership has been closely monitoring the situation.
Biola's campus is a gun-free zone and will not tolerate possession of firearms anywhere on campus except by authorized Campus Safety personnel approved by the president.
Biola remains committed to the safety of all students on campus and will continue to do everything it can to provide a safe environment for the Biola community. Biola’s Campus Safety is consistently conducting training for our campus community. Earlier last week, the Biola community participated in a campus-wide lockdown drill as part of ongoing safety preparedness efforts led by the Campus Safety Department. We are grateful for Campus Safety’s vigilance and taking proactive measures in resolving this situation on campus without incident and their ongoing commitment to safety.