3 bullet casings found in FIU Arena

Written by Camila Fernandez/News Director  

Three bullet casings were found in the FIU Arena at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

Wayne Rustad, equipment athletics facilities manager, said he found an empty silver Winchester Luger 9mm casing in a laundry room on the first floor of the arena. The casing was visible in the dryer’s lint trap, according to a report by the University police department on Sept. 8.

Rustad said that the laundry facility is used by staff for athletic wear and used by FIU athletes.

He spoke about his finding to Julie Berg McGraw, associate athletic director, who said the police advised her not to comment on the matter to Student Media until an investigation was completed.

Rustad also reported two other empty bullet casings that he found about three to four months ago in the laundry room. The cartridges are a Blazer .45 AUTO and a 1-FC Luger 9mm, both gold.

The casings were taken as found property and will not be sent to the Miami-Dade Police Department laboratory because the police do not know how long the bullet casings were in the lint trap and who held them.

According to Alexander Casas, chief of the FIU Police Department, the police have conducted forensic analysis to determine the origin of the casings.

“We don’t just completely dismiss it as a random action,” Casas said. He also said it is possible that a recreational shooter did not empty his pockets before cleaning.

Casas says concerns about the casings are minimal, since the only people who had access to the facility was staff from Athletics. Otherwise, the police would have sent a security warning to the University community.

Casas said it would have been a bigger issue if the casings were to have been found in a parking lot, for example.

Camila.fernandez@fiusm.com

Image courtesy of Creative Commons