Northwestern State University of Louisiana University Police arrested a suspect after several incidents occurred where a fire alarm had been falsely pulled at the on-campus residence building University Place II.
UP2 experienced falsely pulled fire alarms on multiple occasions this semester including on Sept. 7, Oct. 8, 13 and 17, according to police blotters and records.
On Oct. 17, 2024, Antonio Sumler was arrested for the charge of criminal mischief for allegedly pulling the fire alarm, police records stated.
Sumler, who is not an NSU student, is set for an arraignment scheduled on Dec. 17 at 9 a.m. at Natchitoches City Court, according to District Attorney Billy Harrington.
“Northwestern State University’s top priority is the safety and well-being of the entire campus community,” Reatha Cox, Dean of Students and Vice President of the Student Experience, said. “University Police and the housing staff worked collaboratively to investigate the alarm incident in a timely manner.”
Residents of UP2 have expressed concerns regarding the situation due to the lack of information shared to students. Ella Dupuie, sophomore English major, recalled learning that someone purposely pulled the fire alarms through rumors and that the university did not publicly announce it.
“While I am incredibly glad that the school took the situation seriously and actually found and punished the person responsible, it was much more difficult than it should have been to actually learn what happened and what the resolution was,” Dupuie said. “I would have appreciated a statement being put out by campus or any information being communicated to us by housing.”
Dupuie’s mom reached out to Cox asking for an update on the situation. This is when Dupuie learned that an arrest had been made a few days after.
“Hearing nothing from the school was rather disappointing and only added to the stress that the fire alarms caused, and I was hoping for a more open explanation or conversation,” Dupuie said.
NSU students discussed the fire alarms being pulled although there was no fire when the topic was brought up on Yik Yak, a social media platform that allows college students to anonymously post and view messages from fellow students. Eddy Hernandez, junior communication major, questioned why the fire alarms were pulled if there was no real emergency.
Much like Dupuie, Hernandez heard rumors rather than an official statement from the university.
“I have not heard any names, but I did hear from RA’s that the housing team and campus police were in the UP2 office searching through the security footage to find who was responsible,” Hernandez said. “I’m not sure if they were ever caught or if they got away with it.”
According to records requested by The Current Sauce, the police record states housing was in route to the camera room.
University Police captain Wesley Harrell explained that, even though Sumler is officially banned from campus, the investigation is ongoing due to processing.
University Police could not give any further information, as the case was turned over to the Natchitoches District Attorney.
University Police are taking measures to prevent this from happening in the future and asking students to do the same.
“If there is someone out there that has information, we’d be happy to receive that information by CampusShield,” Harrell said.
Cox explained that the university will continue to maintain measures to ensure the safety of our campus residents.
All persons accused of a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Students who have additional information should contact University Police at (318) 357-5431 or share their information via the CampusShield app.
