Christopher Carson, 33, of Needham, Massachusetts, was charged with multiple crimes March 28, after firing a 9 mm handgun outside of West Campus’ Claflin Hall early Friday morning.
The Boston University Police Department charged Carson with disorderly conduct, discharging a weapon, possession of a weapon under the influence, failure to produce gun license and seven counts of assault by means of a dangerous weapon.
Carson had been having an argument with his girlfriend in the alley at 975 Commonwealth Ave. beside the Midas Service Center, directly outside of Claflin Hall. According to Sergeant Jack St. Hilaire, he subsequently got involved in an argument with residents shouting from inside Claflin Hall rooms.
‘They were probably telling him to stop bothering the girl, something along those lines,’ St. Hilaire said. ‘The argument was not specified.’
Carson pulled out the gun and shot at the building, then re-placed the gun beside his waist. St. Hilaire said there was no evidence found that the bullet had struck the building.
After the BUPD received a report of shots fired, officers immediately dispatched to the scene, which occurred in close proximity to the BUPD station. They apprehended Carson without incident and recovered the weapon, a Smith ‘ Wesson handgun.
Jonathan Goldberg, a College of Communication freshman, said he saw the entire event unfold from his dorm room. Goldberg said Carson had been fighting with his girlfriend and was being heckled by students in Claflin.
‘I went to the window [and] saw he was looking up at one of the upper floors in Claflin,’ he said. ‘Apparently someone in the building was heckling him.’
Goldberg said the screaming continued until the student in Claflin made a derogatory comment to Carson.
‘[Carson] screamed something like ‘do you even know who I am,’ and he pulled out a gun at which point I called 911 on my cell phone,’ he said. ‘Someone screamed ‘pussy’ he whipped out the gun and shot at the building.’
Goldberg said he then called BUPD and officers responded immediately.
‘It was literally five seconds,’ he said. ‘As the two people were walking out of the parking lot the cops showed up the place was swarming with cops.’
Goldberg said he then had to report to the police station to file a report, but was unsure of the status of the case because he had not been called to testify in any trial.