Who dumped dead ducks in the SigEp House?

Just be glad this story doesn't have pictures.

A Southeast Missouri State University student who admitted to dumping dead ducks in a fraternity's residence hall entryway Nov. 13 has been cited for littering by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

As shown on a surveillance video at the residence hall released to a local TV station by the university's department of public safety, a man was seen dropping the ducks on his way into the building and then throwing 16 of them into the entryway of the K Greek housing building, which houses members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. The incident occurred around 4:20 p.m. Nov. 13. The video also shows the man driving a truck and exiting with the ducks. A passenger in the truck was shown moving over to the driver's seat and driving away after the ducks were left in the building.

After the surveillance video was released Thursday, the public safety department began receiving calls from local TV viewers who helped identify the man as a university student.
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According to Missouri law, a wanton waste violation occurs when wildlife is harvested and the edible portion is dumped or discarded.

Booth said the people who shot the ducks are members of a different fraternity at the university, and that the student who dumped the ducks is not an official member but was rushing that fraternity. The students who shot the ducks claimed when interviewed by conservation agents that they harvested the ducks legally, Booth said, and at this time there is no reason for agents to believe otherwise.

A "Wanton Waste" indeed!

seMissourian.com: Local News: SEMO student cited with littering for dumping dead ducks in frat house (11/20/11):

'via Blog this'

Ball State House Visitor Threatens Violence

Fraternity visitor arrested for gun possession
Sigma Phi Epsilon calls University Police after threats to shoot
Sarah Frost

A former Ball State University student was arrested early Saturday morning following an altercation at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house where, according to a University Police arrest report, police found a loaded handgun.

According to the report, University Police arrived just after 3 a.m. to find non-fraternity member Jamie Barnes, 22, drunk and cursing.

Sigma Phi Epsilon President Donnie Williams said the fraternity had been providing tours of its recently completed $3.1 million residence earlier in the evening and still had guests at the house. Barnes was able to access the residence because he had a Ball State ID card, Williams said.

"It is important that students know we are careful to avoid any type of situations like this, so we do check student ID's," he said.

Williams said Barnes was arguing with a 21-year-old fraternity member and threatening to shoot people. Students searched a small backpack that Barnes had left in another room and found a small gun inside, Williams said. They then took the backpack from the house and threw it across the street prior to the police officers' arrival, he said.

"Sig Ep brothers defused a life-threatening situation," Williams said. "If it wasn't for their quick thinking, someone may have been seriously hurt."

According to the arrest report, officers found the backpack, which had the comic hero "Iron Man" decorated on it, and an RG Industries RG 14 .22 caliber handgun. Ball State dispatch also advised police that Barnes was wanted out of Muncie City Court for failure to appear for a review hearing. Police apprehended Barnes on charges of intimidation and possession of a handgun without a permit and he was taken to Delaware County Jail.

According to Ball State dispatch, Barnes was released from jail Monday.

Williams called the Saturday's episode "a prime example of brotherhood."

"Had we not stuck it out together, a potentially life-threatening situation may have ended deadly," Williams said. "However, a few brothers stepped up to the challenge and saved lives."

Fraternity visitor arrested for gun possession

Oregon State AGR Uses Homeless Man for Target Practice

Shooting victim sues OSU fraternity
By Gwyneth Gibby
Gazette-Times reporter

A homeless Corvallis man who was shot by an Oregon State University student filed a civil suit Tuesday against the shooter and his fraternity.

Dennis Sanderson was hit in the leg with a bullet from a .22-caliber rifle on Oct. 14, 2006, while in the alley behind the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house, 331 N.W. 26th St. After an investigation, police arrested AGR member Joshua Grimes, 20, of Glide, and charged him with the shooting.

Grimes initially denied involvement, but eventually pleaded guilty to two felonies: unlawful use of a weapon against another and third-degree assault. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, which he completed in August. He also must complete 400 hours of community service at a homeless shelter, three years of supervised probation and pay $3,000 in fines.

The lawsuit names as defendants Grimes, the national AGR fraternity, the AGR foundation and the OSU chapter of the fraternity.

Sanderson is suing the four parties for negligence and battery. The suit claims medical expenses of $5,500 and seeks punitive damages that will be specified later but will be at least $50,000.

“This lawsuit is intended not only to compensate Mr. Sanderson for his injuries,” the suit reads, “but to hold a fraternal organization accountable for promoting a culture of violence, irresponsibility with guns and animosity toward the homeless.”

Grimes and the other defendants were not available for comment after the suit was filed late Tuesday afternoon. Once they have been served with the lawsuit, the defendants have 30 days to respond to the court.

When police searched the fraternity house following the shooting, they found more than two dozen weapons including multiple .22-caliber rifles, assault rifles, semi-automatic rifles, and 12- and 20-gauge shotguns.

Although the fraternity had a gun safe, many of the guns were not stored in it, according to a police report. Guns and ammunition were found in closets, bedrooms and cars.

After the shooting, all of the fraternities and sororities at OSU banned weapons, except AGR, according to Robert Kerr, OSU’s coordinator of Greek life.

The lawsuit claims that the fraternity should have taken steps to control the storage and use of weapons in the house.

The police investigation also revealed that Grimes was accompanied by another fraternity member when he shot at Sanderson. Police said there had been reports of other homeless people being shot at near the fraternity house and that during interviews that were part of the investigation some members of the fraternity referred to homeless people as “bums.”

“Some of the people who are accountable were not held accountable,” said Adam Brittle, Sanderson’s attorney. “The sentencing (of Grimes) did not satisfy many people.”

Brittle said Sanderson was in the alley, minding his own business, when he was shot.“You shouldn’t be made target practice for minding your own business,” he said.

Student Charged After Shots Fired

Police Find Weapons At Yale Frat House
By KIM MARTINEAU Courant Staff Writer

NEW HAVEN - A Yale University student who allegedly fired off pistol rounds in the living room of his fraternity house over the weekend was arraigned Tuesday on charges of reckless endangerment, threatening and breach of peace.

Yale police arrested David Light, 21, on Monday night at his off-campus frat house, Beta Theta Pi, after confiscating 11 guns - including two illegal assault rifles - and a stockpile of chemicals and ammunition, according to Yale and police. Light, who is entering his junior year at Yale, has been temporarily suspended from school and, according to police, may face additional charges.

On Sunday, a 21-year-old man visiting his brother at the fraternity house on Lynwood Place called police to report an unusual confrontation, according to Light's arrest warrant affidavit. Christopher Keefer told police that early Friday, at 3 a.m., he was in his brother's bedroom when he heard gunshots and ran downstairs to investigate.

In the common room, Keefer found shell casings on a coffee table and a housemate, Light, holding a semiautomatic pistol. Keefer, apparently an active-duty member in the military, said he told Light to put the gun down but Light told him not to worry about anyone getting hurt - he was firing blanks.

They had been playing beer pong, a drinking game, throughout the night and at the time Light seemed drunk and belligerent, Keefer told police. He warned Light a second time to put the gun away but Light then fired off another two rounds at the ceiling, he said. Keefer told Light that even blanks could kill or hurt people. Light insisted they couldn't.

As the argument escalated, Keefer asked Light to prove his point that no one would get hurt.

"Why don't I point it at your head to find out?" Light allegedly responded.

At that point, Keefer says he retreated upstairs and quickly left the house. Two days later, he reported the incident to police. On Monday afternoon, he visited the Yale police station accompanied by his mother, who lives on the shoreline, to give a statement.

He told police that several days before the confrontation, Light had shown him an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, a .50-caliber sniper rifle and a .357-caliber revolver that he kept inside his third-floor bedroom.

Police interviewed a maintenance man on the same day who said he'd been in Light's room on Sunday to change the locks and spotted a pistol on the table, a new .50-caliber sniper rifle on the floor and what looked like dozens of boxes of ammunition. Police said Light has long guns registered to him but no state pistol permit.

He is originally from Poway, Calif., near San Diego, and studied chemistry. At Yale, he joined the New Haven Sportsmen's Club.

His emergency suspension will continue until fall, when the board that reviews complaints of student misconduct meets, Yale said. The university stressed that his fraternity house is not owned by Yale and that Beta Theta Pi operates independently.

Bail has been set at $150,000. Light is next scheduled to appear in Superior Court in New Haven on Aug. 2.

Contact Kim Martineau at kmartineau@courant.com.