A 22-year-old non-student was arrested Thursday on Kennedy Boulevard after’ he threatened to shoot an Austin Hall resident, witnesses said.
Anthony McClaney Jr. stood screaming outside of Austin Hall and demanded to enter both the front and rear entrances, witnesses said. McClaney said he wanted to kill people in a specific room, but the women who live there said they had never seen the man.
‘We’ve never seen this guy in our life,’ both the roommates said. The third roommate was not available for comment. The Minaret has decided not to name the women or the room to respect their privacy.
Tampa Police arrested McClaney, and as of 10 p.m. Thursday, he had only been charged with opposing an officer without force. He was released just days ago after serving more than a week for an April 9 trespassing arrest.
In light of the Virginia Tech shooting, this incident is a concern.
‘ ‘I was really shaken up because of what happened at Virginia Tech,’ said one of the roommates.
They worry that something far worse could have happened if he had entered the building.
‘We never used to lock our doors, but now we do,’ said the roommates.
Residence Life offered for the roommates to change rooms if they did not feel safe, but they declined.
‘There is only two weeks. We’re going to stick it out.’
Three student witnesses reported being too upset to talk about the incident.
Campus Safety and Security received a report at 3 p.m. Thursday that an aggressive male was attempting to enter Austin Hall. Officers said McClaney was a homeless man, but he gave TPD a Riverview, Fla., address.
Before security and TPD arrived, the individual walked to Kennedy Boulevard, and an officer located at the Metro Mart apprehended him at 3:15 p.m. The individual was found unarmed at the time of arrest.
Paul Golloscio witnessed the incident while sitting with friends in front of Austin.
‘I couldn’t really see his face. He started cursing, saying he was going to kill somebody [in the Austin room],’ Golluscio said.
He estimates that the whole incident took about 20 seconds.
‘When nobody would let him in, the next move was to jump him, get him on the ground,’ said Golloscio, who chose not to subdue the individual.
McClaney also served 17 days for trespassing after being arrested by Tampa International Airport police in September 2006, according to police records.
The Minaret decided to use the suspect’s name because other students had reported seeing him on campus at previous times.
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