1L at U Mass Dartmouth Reportedly Was a Fugitive, Has Been Charged with Having AK-47 in His Home
A first-year law student at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth is a fugitive wanted in Texas and has been arrested on illegal firearms possession charges, Dartmouth police say.
John Cassidy, 26, was arrested this week in the law school parking lot minutes after he left class. Meanwhile, searching his apartment in Dartmouth pursuant to a warrant, police seized items including an AK-47, a loaded 9-mm handgun and nearly 200 rounds of assorted ammunition, Suncoast Today reports.
There is an active, outstanding warrant for Cassidy in Texas for alleged possession of “explosive components,” the newspaper says. Court documents accuse him of setting fire to the car of a man who had allegedly robbed him at gunpoint during a drug deal.
He came to the attention of Dartmouth police on Tuesday after anonymous tips were made to campus police claiming that Cassidy had both guns and “violent tendencies” and had allegedly assaulted his roommate, who is also a law student.
His lawyer, Stewart Grimes, says Cassidy purchased the weapons legally in Texas, has not threatened anyone with a firearm and has cooperated with police. Grimes also said that Cassidy’s roommate started the fight between them.
“It’s a completely different culture in Texas. Everybody there is armed to the teeth,” says Grimes, who also says Cassidy was applying for a firearms license in Massachusetts.
A spokesman for U Mass says Cassidy has been suspended, pending a hearing, and that the school is checking his application to see if it contains any untruthful information.
