CHESTERTOWN, Md., Nov. 19 (UPI) — Washington College announced it will be closed until the end of November while authorities search for a student who poses a potential threat to the school.
The school, which has 1,450 undergraduate students, has been on lockdown since Monday as law enforcement searches for 19-year-old sophomore Jacob Marberger, who was once a leader in the student government and speaker of the senate.
The FBI and the Maryland State Police were called in to search for Marberger, a “despondent” student who returned home to Pennsylvania to retrieve a gun and has since gone missing.
The small liberal arts college abruptly canceled classes “based on our continuing consultations with law enforcement” until Nov. 30. Students were instructed to stay in contact with professors to continue progress in courses.
“All residential students have either returned home or been taken in by members of the campus and Chestertown community. We are deeply grateful to the faculty, staff and residents of Chestertown for opening their homes and their hearts to dozens of our students,” President Sheila C. Bair said.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Marberger who allegedly showed a fellow student an antique .22-caliber weapon while drunk at his fraternity house.
“He was not pointing it at anybody. He wasn’t threatening anybody with it. It sounds like he was brandishing it, bragging about it,” Bair said.
Authorities said Marberger was despondent after he was suspended from school for a week and a half, kicked out of his fraternity and resigned from the student government following the gun incident. Marberger returned home during his suspension and allegedly made posts on social media that raised concerns.
Concerns escalated when his parents told police he had taken a rifle from their home and he has since gone missing. He was allegedly spotted at a store buying rifle shells.
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