The CSUN student charged with felony criminal threat spoke to another student moments before a campus-wide alert was sent Sept. 27 notifying students that a man on campus indicated he had a gun.
The police report from CSUN Police Department was released the same day as President Jolene Koester sent a campus-wide email following up on the events that unfolded that day.
According to the report, CSUN student Marcus Avila, 28, said he saw Gahren Moradian lying face down on the Oviatt walkway near the entrance doors.
“It’s going to happen today, I am going to pull the gun out right now,” Avila heard Moradian say, according to the police report.
Avila was reported to have been concerned over Moradian’s statements that he would use a gun, and felt his and others’s safety was in jeopardy.
Avila told Moradian everyone has bad days and he was concerned for him, according to the report. Moradian reportedly told Avila he wanted to be left alone.
Calls to Avila were not returned before the time of publication.
A confidential witness sent a message to the Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. William Watkins at 3:15 p.m. indicating that the person involved in the incident was Gahren Moradian.
The witness told Watkins that Moradian was wearing the same shirt he was photographed in Tuesday, which read “human rights violatin” (sic), to class the day before, according to the police report.
In Tuesday’s email, Koester addressed concerns about emergency communication to the campus and why classes were not canceled.
“We know too that while many elements of our emergency notification process worked well, some did not,” Koester wrote. “Police and administrators are actively following up on areas identified as needing improvement.”
Koester described the suspected man who indicated he might have a gun on campus was an unsubstantiated threat, because there was no proof the suspect had a gun at the time.
The campus remained open throughout the day. The Oviatt Library was closed from about 10:30 a.m. until Wednesday morning.
Email alerts from the CSU Northridge emergency notification system notified students throughout the day of the changing circumstances of the search and investigation.
Students came forward days after Moradian’s arrest, identifying him as attending class at 12:30 p.m., shortly after the first email alert reported a man indicated he may have had a gun before entering the Oviatt Library.
Moradian has been released on bail but will not be allowed on campus pending the outcome of the investigation, Koester wrote, and students should immediately notify police services if they see him.
Moradian is scheduled to be arraigned in North Valley Municipal Court Oct. 19.
