Man with rifle on Syracuse University campus had just bought it in Syracuse, prosecutor says

[1srelluc]

https://www.syracuse.com/crime/2026/03/man-with-rifle-on-syracuse-university-campus-had-just-bought-it-in-syracuse-prosecutor-says.html

Syracuse, N.Y. ― A man found with a rifle on Syracuse University’s campus on Saturday came to Syracuse to buy the gun, prosecutor Austin Milone said in court Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Cornell University student had the rifle and 40 rounds of ammunition with him on campus while he was waiting for a bus to Ithaca, police said.

The student, Mateu Healey-Parera, had traveled to Syracuse by bus earlier that day to buy the rifle. It was the first gun the man had ever purchased, Milone said.

In New York state, it is a crime to bring a gun into a school or onto a college campus.

Healey-Parera, of Mansfield Center, Connecticut, was taken into custody on Waverly Avenue near the Schine Student Center, police said this weekend. The center is at 200 Waverly Ave.

A 1905 30-06 US Rock Island rifle with a scope attached was found in a case, according to court documents. The ammunition was in a backpack.

Healey-Parera was charged with criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds and has been held in the Onondaga County Justice Center jail since his arrest. His bail was set at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond.


What the heck?

Some guy took a bus from Ithaca to Syracuse and bought a rifle legally. He was waiting for a bus to go back to Syracruse when he was arrested "because the bus stop is on Syracuse University property" (supposedly).

I seem to recall reading case analysis in which the mere presence of a container does not, in and of itself, give rise to PC for an intrusive stop, search, and seizure.

I suspect he must’ve told the cops that he had a gun in the case. The lesson here is NEVER TALK TO THE COPS.

NY being NY they had to protect themselves from those evil unloaded old guns...."Sensible" gun laws and all you know.

 

[GRIZZ0317]

That's wild, especially the bail amount. I can't believe they can justify setting it that high.

 

[Darkwind]

There are a few conflicting rights going on here I think.

Given the violence on college campuses, the campus riots just a little while ago, and a rash of shootings going on, a guy on campus with a rifle is suspicious enough to warrant a detainment. We do have a reasonable concern about kids in danger in college. Also, with two attempted assassinations on Trump and a successful assassination of Charlie Kirk, this is a righteous stop.

However, the New York law solves none of those problems.

The guy wants to be a gun owner; he needs to act responsibly when he owns a gun. Should it warrant the charges levied at him? No. But he needs a good slap on the wrist, or a swift kick in the balls at a minimum.

 

[DigitalDrifter]