Mansfield Resident Charged After Entering Syracuse University Campus With Gun: Police

SYRACUSE, NY — A Mansfield resident who is a senior at Cornell University has been charged in connection with him bringing a rifle with accompanying ammunition onto the Syracuse University campus, police said.

Mateu Healey-Parera has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds and was given a trespass notice to stay away from Syracuse University property, Syracuse police said in a news conference streamed on YouTube.

According to an initial news release, at about 4 p.m. on Saturday, the Syracuse University Department of Public Safety received a report of a suspicious person on the Waverly side of the Schine Student Center.

DPS officers determined the individual, who "has no affiliation with Syracuse University," was in possession of a weapon and was waiting to board a bus to Ithaca, where Cornell is located, according to police.

DPS officers took the person into custody and detained him until Syracuse Police Department officers arrived on campus, at which point the man was turned over to SPD, according to a news conference.

The man was then identified as the 22-year-old Parera, police said.

Officers discovered a recently purchased bolt action 30-06 rifle with an attached scope and Healey-Perara was found with 40 rounds of ammunition, police said.

Police said there is no preliminary indication Perera was headed to an on-campus basketball game that day.