SHU Gunman Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

Kevin Papalia, 22, of Morganville, N.J., was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Essex County Superior Court last week for allegedly firing off shots at an industrial building in Old Bridge and then shooting himself in the abdomen while in his Toyota Scion on Seton Hall's campus a year ago.

Papalia was charged in a 15-count indictment in November -- including charges of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and criminal mischief -- and has been transferred to the Ann Klein Forensic Center in West Trenton. His next hearing is set for May 11. During a previous psychiatric evaluation, Dr. Azariah Eshkenazi of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that Papalia suffered from bi-polar disorder and depression and wasn't capable of forming an intent on the day of the spree.

Seton Hall was placed on lock-down on Feb. 11, 2008, when South Orange police got a 911 call at 8:23 p.m. from a woman giving information that a distraught Papalia was headed to campus. He was found minutes later in the lobby of Xavier Hall -- where his ex-girlfriend lived -- with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Police recovered a .45 caliber handgun in the trunk of his car, and Papalia was taken to University Hospital in Newark for treatment.

According to a reconstruction of events by Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Eric Plant, the spree allegedly began at 2:30 p.m. when Papalia fired a semi-automatic assault rifle into the door of Forman Industries in Old Bridge and an Acura Integra parked nearby and pointed his gun at four people.