Police have identified the man they say sparked a more than three-hour lockdown of Central Connecticut State University and a frantic search by law enforcement Monday. David Kyem, a 21-year-old senior at CCSU, was charged with breach of peace and freed on $1,000 bail.
Kyem told Connecticut’s Newsroom he returned to the CCSU campus after a Halloween weekend at the University of Connecticut. He said he wore parts of his costume, a G.I. Joe character called Snake Eyes, because he could not fit the costume into his backpack. The outfit included camouflage, a tactical vest, a sword, a gun, goggles and a hat, all fake according to Kyem. That is when, Kyem said, the trouble began.
Multiple police units responded to the scene after they received 911 calls from students reporting sightings of a man in camouflage carrying a knife and handgun. The calls prompted a campus-wide lockdown, while SWAT teams converged on James Hall. Kyem said he did not know what was going on and headed to his dorm room at James Hall. He said he was not fully aware that he was the cause of the mayhem until he was contacted by New Britain Police.
“I know he was just running because he was late to another class and his dress and everything brought up all those and I hear people called the police so that’s how the whole thing started,” David’s mother Olivia Kyem said.
Two other persons of interest were taken into custody. They were also released Monday night. No one was injured.