WASHINGTON -- The suspect who police say triggered a lockdown at the University of Richmond has confessed to entering Boatwright Memorial Library disguised as a sheriff's officer, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Police say that when the suspect, 19-year-old Seth A. Newman of Henrico County, came to the circulation desk May 6, he told employees he had heard people were fornicating in the library and he would need to spend the night.
Newman, who worked at a nursing home run by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, was arrested May 7 at his home on the 1700 block of Chadwick Drive in Henrico and charged with a felony for concealing his identity and two misdemeanors for impersonating an officer.
University Police Chief Bob Dillard said a pellet gun found on campus belonged to the Newman, who was also charged with a misdemeanor for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, the affadavit showed.
Newman was arraigned in front of Judge David E. Cheek Sr. May 8 and released on $10,000 bond. His next court hearing is scheduled for July 3.
In the affidavit, police said Tina Metzger, a temporary employee at Boatwright Memorial Library, asked Newman for identification, but he didn't produce any. He then left the building.
Newman was wearing what police described as a brown jacket with "Sheriff's Office" printed on the back, a dark-colored fishing hat, and a fake dark-colored beard.
Lee Parker, Richmond's manager of administrative systems in information services, told police he saw the suspect remove the jacket outside the library and place it in a brown satchel bag he was carrying. That's when Parker said he believed he saw a semi-automatic handgun at Newman's side.
Police reported that a person with same description left Little Sisters of the Poor at 1503 Michaels Rd. around noon the day of the incident, the affidavit said, about 3.5 hours before university officials activated the school's emergency alert system to notify the community of a suspicious person on campus.
When police investigated Newman's locker at the nursing home, the warrant said they found "physical evidence consistent with the incident that occurred at [Richmond.]"
Newman has worked for three years part-time as a dishwasher at St. Joseph's Home for the Aged, which is run by Little Sisters of the Poor, said Stephen Neill, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. He has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case, he said.
"They all like Seth and are praying for him," Neill said of the elders and employees at the home. "They're obviously not supportive of what he did, but they don't have any malice toward him. He had a fine reputation with elderly people. A resident told me a few days ago that she was shocked when she heard. I feel sorry for him."
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Newman worked at the home -- a short walk from his Chadwick Drive residence -- serving food, washing dishes and assisting the elderly, Neill said. Newman lives with his parents and was home-schooled, according to Neill.
A Henrico magistrate granted police a search warrant for Newman's home a day after the May 6 incident that prompted the four-hour campus lockdown.
Police searched Newman's residence at the 1700 block of Chadwick Drive and confiscated a plastic envelope from a holster case, make-up removing towelettes, a laptop computer, a notebook, camera, film, insulin syringes, Newman's identification, and other items, the warrant said.
A handful of students, including some graduating seniors, athletes, and international students, were still on campus when university officials activated the system at 3:37 p.m., about 40 minutes after police were initially made aware of the incident.
Nearly 20 police cars descended on the campus following the alert. Officers from the university police, Henrico county and the City of Richmond sweeped the library and other areas of campus by foot and air looking for the suspect before lifting the lockdown.
(Collegian staff writer Dan Petty reported this story from Washington, D.C.)
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